These infamous human errors cost the world dearly. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most consequential mistakes in history.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most consequential
00:09mistakes in history.
00:11Even 20 minutes after the disaster, the controllers in the tower still have no idea how serious
00:17things are.
00:19Number 10, the 2024 CrowdStrike incident.
00:23It's hit transport with air passengers and their luggage having to be manually processed,
00:27delaying flights, trains have also been affected.
00:30Before July 19th, 2024, few people had ever heard of CrowdStrike.
00:34It's amazing how much damage just one day can do.
00:38CrowdStrike is a cybersecurity company based out of Austin, Texas, that caused about $10
00:43billion in damage on the morning of July 19th.
00:46CrowdStrike made an update to its Falcon sensor software, but a bug caused the software to
00:51crash.
00:52Officials in Europe were already getting a grasp on how bad the issue was.
00:56Germany's cybersecurity chief warned people it would be a long day.
01:01Systems running Microsoft Windows crashed, resulting in the largest outage in world history.
01:06The results were devastating and disrupted nearly all aspects of daily life, upending
01:11banks, hospitals, air transport and retail.
01:14It just goes to show how fragile our tech-heavy existence truly is.
01:19Ambulance services across the country have reported a surge in demand as a result.
01:24But if you have an urgent problem, you should contact your own GP surgery, either in person
01:30or by telephone.
01:31Number 9.
01:32Pickets charge.
01:39Confederate General Robert E. Lee made the biggest mistake of his life on July 3rd, 1863,
01:45when he ordered his troops to charge on Cemetery Ridge.
01:48There were several flaws in Lee's plan.
01:50Union General George G. Meade had anticipated Lee's attack on the center of his lines rather
01:56than the flanks, and concentrated his defenses there.
02:08The charge exposed Confederate soldiers to heavy artillery and rifle fire, and the army
02:13suffered catastrophic casualties.
02:15It effectively crippled the Confederate forces at Gettysburg, and forced Lee to abandon the
02:20battle and retreat from the north.
02:22With this one simple change, the tide of the American Civil War permanently shifted, all
02:27to the detriment of Lee and his forces.
02:37Number 8.
02:38The Cedar Fire.
02:40It's gigantic.
02:41You never imagine it's as big as that, until it happens.
02:46Imagine accidentally starting a fire that burns over 270,000 acres of land and kills
02:5215 people.
02:53The guilt would be unimaginable.
02:55Sergio Martinez was a novice hunter who got lost in the Kayamaka Mountains of Southern
02:59California in October 2003, and started a fire to signal potential rescuers.
03:05Afraid he was going to die in the wilderness, he finally said,
03:09I'm going to signal fire, which got out of control.
03:12But the flames quickly spread to the nearby Chaparral, and he lost control of the fire.
03:17The low humidity and Santa Ana winds exacerbated the destruction, and the fire burned through
03:22273,000 acres of San Diego County.
03:26Nearly 3,000 buildings were destroyed, and 15 people lost their lives.
03:31Martinez was given five years probation and 960 hours of community service.
03:36If you take a look down Fairbrook here, Fairbrook Place, this is just something you'd probably
03:41see in a movie.
03:42That's the only way to describe it.
03:44Number 7.
03:45Germany invades Russia.
03:46In the summer of 1941, Hitler orders a surprise invasion of the Soviet Union, catching his
03:54ally completely off guard.
03:57Back in 1812, Napoleon tried invading Russia.
04:00It didn't work.
04:01Like, it really didn't work.
04:03Over 100 years later, Hitler made the same mistake, and to equally devastating results.
04:08The entire world watched with bated breath as Nazi Germany invaded Russia in Operation
04:13Barbarossa.
04:14Join your German comrades.
04:15They understand your suffering and will care more for you than your own officers.
04:22It was a catastrophic military blunder, owing mainly to insurmountable Soviet strength,
04:27the vastness of the territory, and the brutal winter conditions that crippled German forces.
04:33Despite having the largest invasion force in the history of warfare, Operation Barbarossa
04:37was a monumental failure.
04:39The Soviets successfully repelled the Germans, leading to massive casualties and ultimately
04:44turning the tide of World War II, and for that matter, the entire 20th century.
04:49If Hitler wants a war, Stalin will give him one.
04:54Number 6.
04:55The Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
04:57126 people were on board at the time of the explosion.
05:02A multitude of factors went into the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill.
05:08A central mistake was the failure to correctly respond to the signs of impending disaster.
05:14Pressure tests indicated that the well was not properly sealed, but the readings were
05:18misinterpreted.
05:26This error was compounded by a rush to complete the drilling operation, driven largely by
05:31cost-cutting pressures, leading to the decision to proceed with the operation despite warning
05:37signs.
05:38The sequence of failures ultimately triggered the calamitous explosion that killed 11 people
05:43and sent 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
05:53Number 5.
05:54The Exxon Valdez oil spill.
06:01Before Deepwater Horizon, the Exxon Valdez oil spill was the largest in American history,
06:06dumping more than 10 million gallons into Alaska's Prince William Sound.
06:10But this accident was far less complex, and is attributed almost entirely to human error.
06:16Shortly after midnight on March 24, 1989, the tanker ran aground on Bly Reef, puncturing
06:22eight of its 11 cargo holds.
06:28At the time, Captain Joe Hazelwood was below decks, sleeping off, quote, two or three vodkas
06:34he had consumed earlier.
06:36Furthermore, the crew was overworked and exhausted, contributing to third mate Gregory Cousins
06:41driving the vessel into the reef.
06:43Part of the blame also reportedly lay on the Exxon shipping company for failing to maintain
06:48the ship's collision-avoidance system.
06:56Number 4.
06:57The Carrife Airport disaster.
07:05This disaster on Spain's Canary Islands in March 1977 remains the deadliest accident
07:10in aviation history, costing 583 lives.
07:14Los Rodeos Airport was congested due to a bomb explosion at Gran Canaria.
07:19Exacerbating this was a dense fog rolling into the airport.
07:23KLM Flight 4805 took off in the fog and crashed into Pan Am Flight 1736, which was still taxiing
07:31on the runway.
07:37An investigation found that the accident resulted from critical miscommunication between KLM
07:43Captain Jacob Veldhuysen-Van Zanten and air traffic control.
07:47Ambiguous and non-standard wording led Veldhuysen-Van Zanten to commence takeoff without proper
07:53clearance, resulting in the tragic collision.
08:07Number 3.
08:08Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.
08:10As recorded on E-207 and E-204, the first visual indication that the anomalous plume
08:15penetrated the external tank was seen at 64.66 seconds as an abrupt change in the shape
08:21and color of the plume.
08:23Roughly 40 million people tuned in to watch NASA's Challenger launch into space in 1986.
08:28Unfortunately, the launch was plagued by freezing temperatures.
08:32Engineers were worried that the cold could compromise the integrity of the O-ring seals
08:36in the shuttle's solid rocket boosters.
08:38The cold made the rubber less resilient, leading to a weakened seal which could allow hot gas
08:44to escape the booster.
08:57Engineers at SRB manufacturer Morton Thiokol recommended against launching, but after internal
09:02discussion, management gave the go-ahead.
09:05Challenger launched, and the O-ring failed just as predicted, causing the shuttle to
09:09break apart and killing all seven crew members.
09:23Number 2.
09:24The sinking of the Titanic.
09:36Numerous factors went into the sinking of the Titanic.
09:38The crew were warned of icebergs in the vicinity several times that fateful day on April 14,
09:441912, but these warnings were largely ignored.
09:46Not only that, but the Titanic was traveling at a reckless speed of 22.5 knots through
09:52the area, relying solely on the crow's nest to spot impending obstacles.
10:02This was done mainly to bolster public image, as Atlantic liners had a reputation for being
10:07fast and on time.
10:08As a result, ships often travelled at full speed and treated warnings as mere advisories.
10:14But in this case, the iceberg was spotted too late, and the ship was going too fast
10:19to avoid it.
10:20Roughly 1,500 people lost their lives.
10:50Number 1.
10:51The Chernobyl disaster.
10:58As anyone who watched the masterful HBO show would know, Chernobyl was an accident waiting
11:03to happen.
11:04And happen it did, on the morning of April 26, 1986.
11:08The nuclear plant was, ironically, running a safety test and pushing the reactor to its
11:12limits.
11:13Unfortunately, operator errors and inadequate safety protocols caused a catastrophic surge
11:19in power inside of the reactor.
11:27This, combined with cheap building materials, led to a massive steam explosion, which ruptured
11:32the reactor vessel and released a substantial amount of radiation into the atmosphere.
11:37The disaster cost untold lives, damaged the surrounding area, and cost hundreds of billions
11:43of dollars, making it the costliest disaster in human history.