Catastrophic failure
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Catastrophic failure is a sudden and total (or near total) failure which not only cannot be recovered from (the system which experiences it may be destroyed beyond any reasonable possibility of repair), but also frequently causes injury, death, or significant damage to other, often unrelated systems.
In the case of firearms, it often refers to when the gun is destroyed by firing the wrong caliber of ammunition, firing into an obstructed barrel, or using an overcharged round of ammunition.
Examples include:
- The Tacoma Narrows Bridge
- The Hyatt Regency walkway collapse
- The Space Shuttle Challenger and Space Shuttle Columbia
- The Banqiao Dam and other dams
