Today’s podcast goes just a few years back and focuses on the skywalk collapse that happened at the Hyatt Regency, Kansas City hotel back in July, 1981.  The collapse had one main reason for failure, and some circumstances that might have even prevented it, had the suggestions been met with proper acknowledgement instead of disapproval from those in charge.

As usual, you can download the podcast at this link, find us on iTunes, or listen to it in the embedded player below.

Sources for the podcast are as follows:

• Wikipedia.org: The Sheraton Kansas city Hotel at Crown Center and Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse
• Engineering.com: Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse (note: This is probably one of THE best sources for the engineering aspects of this event)
• EngineeringFailures.org: Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse (including schematics for how the 2nd floor walkway was bolted to the 4th)
• JoshuaKennon.com: The 1981 Hyatt Regency Collapse of Kansas City
• KansasCity.com: Disaster Made Heroes of the Helpers 

The links to each of the video segments are in five parts.

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4
• Part 5

Finally, here’s how the lobby looked back in 1981 (the third floor walkway is closest to the camera, with the second floor and fourth floor below and above, in the background):

And here’s how the lobby looks after the disaster; note that the overhead walkway is only one single walkway, not three, and it is supported from the ground below: