MetaFilter posts tagged with wreck

non-flight of the unPhoenix

Artw — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 22:00:56 -0800

Abandoned PBY-5A Catalina Flying Boat in Saudi Arabia. More images. (via)

Train vs. Tornado. Guess who wins!

P.o.B. — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:17:13 -0800

Have you ever wondered what happens when a freight train drives through a tornado? Let me show you (2:01 SLYT)

"In the dark of night, I could see that dark hull. ... I could hear our people screaming, 'No! No!' I just couldn't believe it,"

The Light Fantastic — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:04:10 -0800

The Princess Taiping, a replica of an ancient Chinese sea-going Junk, was built to make a round trip across the Pacific from China to North America to show that Asian sailors might have reached North America before Columbus. Nelson Liu, the captain of the junk and organizer of the trip is convinced that large junks could have sailed from China to North America. He had the Princess Taiping (Princess of Peace) built to the specifications of a Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) war junk and set sail from Hong Kong last summer. The junk was built with natural materials in strict accordance with ancient Chinese shipbuilding techniques using only traditional woods and no modern materials like bolts, nuts, and screws, or polyester, or plastic resins. Although required to have a a low power inboard/outboard engine it usually used sail power. Less than 30 miles from the end of their approximately 14,000 mile voyage, The Princess Taiping was struck by the Liberian flag tanker Champion Express, who did not stop or render assistance. All crew were safely rescued after the junk was cut in half by a freighter in Suao, a fishing port on northeastern Taiwan. The Princess Taiping made visits to: Eureka, San Francisco (Youtube), Southern California ports, Hawaii, Saipan and Okinawa.

Yesterday a Car Went Airborne

zzazazz — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:47:08 -0800

During the last lap of the NASCAR race at Talladega Super Speedway the car in the lead got tapped by the second place car and went airborne and smashed into the catch fence. The frightening wreck resulted in injuries to seven fans. NASCAR has been using the dreaded restrictor plate (a plate that fits over the carburetor and restricts the flow of gasoline and slows the cars down) since 1987 after Bobby Allison had a similar wreck at the same track. NASCAR officials still give lip service to their commitment to safety but it's well known that NASCAR doesn't really do anything until someone dies in a wreck. David Poole, who writes for the Charlotte Observer is one of the few members of the media calling NASCAR out on this .

Crush, Texas - Town for a Day

tellurian — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:07:36 -0800

The "Crash at Crush" was the intentional head-on crash of two Katy locomotives on Sept. 15, 1896. The results were not quite what Agent Crush had planned. Scott Joplin wrote The Great Crush Collision March [more pictures] to commemorate the event and it was also an inspiration for 'Head-On' Joe Connelly. The Spectacular Death of Georgia-Pacific Number 9 is the site of the derail from the Joe Connelly link.

Where's the Alligator?

Man-Thing — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 11:24:00 -0800

It's out there someplace. The NOAA and the Office of Naval Research are about to start searching for the U.S. Navy's first submarine, which went to the bottom of the Atlantic off Cape Hatteras in 1863. Unlike the Confederacy's CSS Hunley, the USS Alligator never saw action, but it's historically significant nonetheless. Perhaps it can be recovered, as its Rebel cousin was.