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    Engineering is an invisible science. A plane flies, a train moves, a building stands and we accept the impossible. We don’t think about how a metal tube stays aloft or how a building can withstand tons of weight without collapse. Like Apple’s motto, “It just works.” Until the day it doesn’t. You may be familiar with some of the older engineering disasters, like the Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse in 1940, or for those with a fear of flying, the DC-10 crashes in the 1970s. But as science continues to evolve, as computer modeling pushes the boundaries of what’s possible, disaster still happens, and more recently than you would think. Like the quote from “Prometheus,” “big things have small beginnings,” most tragedies start small and end big. Click ahead for 11 engineering disasters in the modern era.

    1. Air France Flight 4590

    In July 2000, the famous aircraft, a Concorde, crashed outside of Paris, France during a flight to JFK International. All 100 passengers and nine crewmembers onboard died. Some of the fault lies with human error: a runway inspection was not completed before take-off. One of the tires hit a piece of debris, which resulted in its rupture. The debris then was thrown against the underside of the left wing, and tragedy struck. 

    It was a structural failure because the enormous fuel load imposed a risk to the safety of the plane; the engines were located directly above the landing gear, which meant if there was a problem with the engines, then the landing gear would not operate properly; and there was exposed wiring on the underbelly of the aircraft.
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    2. Deepwater Horizon

    The Deepwater Horizon was an offshore drilling unit with the ability to drill down to 30,000 feet. On April 20, 2010, while drilling an exploratory well, the rig exploded, killing 11 workers and setting the stage to release 4.9 million barrels of oil that devastated the area around the Gulf of Mexico. The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill said “several tests indicated the cement put in place after the installation ... was not an effective barrier to prevent gases from entering the well.” These same gases allowed the explosion to occur. 
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    3. Fukushima Reactor Meltdown

    Following the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, the Fukushima reactor melted down, releasing radioactive material into the ground and ocean. While exacerbated by the earthquake, a report claims that the meltdown was a manmade disaster caused by poor regulation. Wrote DailyTech, “The Fukushima nuclear disaster shows the danger of using ancient reactor designs in flood-prone regions without proper precaution. The accident stands as a stirring cry to decommission older reactors and move to modern designs.”
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    4. Hurricane Katrina and the New Orleans Levee System

    It was bad enough when a Category 3 hurricane hit New Orleans on Aug. 29, 2005, but the damage was compounded when the levies burst and flooded roughly 80 percent of the city, in some areas with up to 20 feet of water. Katrina was blamed for more than 1,800 deaths. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the levees failed because they were built in a disjointed fashion, inconsistent in quality, materials and design, using outdated data that left gaps exploited by the storm. Engineers also didn’t take into account the poor soil quality underneath New Orleans.
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    5. Space Shuttle Challenger and Columbia

    On Feb. 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana during its re-entry into the atmosphere. All seven crewmembers were killed. During its launch, a piece of foam insulation broke off from the external tank and hit the wing, damaging the thermal protection system. (Sounds a lot like the Concorde disaster.) From there, the crew was doomed but didn’t know it.

    Challenger broke apart on Jan. 28, 1986, seconds after launch, killing everyone aboard. After an intensive investigation, it came to light the cause was an O-ring. One small domino fell and the whole shuttle fell with it.
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    6. Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse

    On July 17, 1981, at the Hyatt Regency Kansas City in Kansas City, Mo., two connected walkways collapsed and fell into the lobby, killing 114 people and injuring 216 more. An investigation revealed a structural engineering flaw in the way the bolts and rods were secured. The engineering firm consulting on the project was found to be in gross negligence, misconduct and unprofessional conduct.
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    7. Charles de Gaulle Airport Roof Collapse

    On May 23, 2004, a part of the roof collapsed in the newly constructed terminal, killing five people. A report later stated that there was no single fault, but a number of causes, including a design that had little margin for safety. Mainly, the concrete vaulted roof was not resilient enough, and had been pierced by pillars.
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    8. Big Dig Ceiling Collapse

    On July 10, 2006, a concrete ceiling weighing three tons fell in Boston’s Fort Point Channel Tunnel, hitting a car travelling on a two-lane ramp and killing the driver. The accident shut down a portion of the tunnel for a year. The collapse occurred because a New York company supplied the wrong epoxy for ceiling panels. Glad to know securing a ton of cement is dependent on the equivalent of Super Glue.
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    9. Eschede Train Disaster

    On June 3, 1998, a high-speed train derailed near the village of Eschede in Germany, killing 101 people and injuring 88 more. A single fatigue crack in one wheel failed, causing the train to derail at a switch. A contributing factor was the use of welds in the carriage bodies that “unzipped” during the crash. Within weeks of the crash, all wheels of a similar design were replaced with monoblock wheels.
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    10. Banqiao Reservoir Dam

    In 1975, the Banqiao Reservoir Dam on the River Ru in China failed, killing at least 171,000 people and destroying the homes of 11 million people. Although the dam was built to withstand a large flood, it was not designed for a once-in-a-millennium flood. When the dam failed, more than 700 million cubic meters of floodwater was released over a six-hour period. “While many pointed fingers at the weather forecast, research cites that the tragedy was man-made ... and scientists warned that any reservoir’s flood control was being ignored.”
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    Next: 10 Worst Roller Coaster Disasters

    11. The Metrodome 

    In the history of its existence, the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minn. has seen five serious roof incidents. While most of them occurred in the 1980s, the most recent happened just a couple of years ago.

    In December of 2010, the roof collapsed due to a severe winter storm. The cost to fix the roof was estimated at $18 million, and the stadium was not operational again until the spring of 2011. However, all of the construction and repairs weren't completed until August of that year.