A Tangled Thistle column
Failure Archaeology
Events where something went wrong, examined for the decision chain rather than the headline. These are studied the way the safety profession studies them — to find the ordinary planning choice that became consequential, because it is almost never the dramatic one.
5 pieces
-
The Event Needs a Failure Mode That Still Looks Intentional
A good contingency plan does not preserve every clever detail. It protects the part of the event guests were actually supposed to feel.
-
The Generator Was Late. The Washrooms Were Waiting.
A blank-slate private estate had no power and no water. When the temporary generator arrived late during setup, the powered washrooms could not operate yet. The wedding was fine. The dependency is still worth…
-
The Venue Was Manufactured. The Command Structure Had to Be, Too.
Failure archaeology of the 2021 Astroworld Festival through the Texas Task Force on Concert Safety: a manufactured venue, perimeter breach, fragmented jurisdiction, unclear show-stop authority, and the command decisions that have to exist before…
-
People Do Not Evacuate Like Dots on a Floor Plan
The Station nightclub had more than one exit. In the 2003 fire, about two-thirds of occupants still moved toward the familiar main entrance, and a crowd crush disrupted that route before 90 seconds. NIST’s…
-
The Storm Wasn’t the First Failure
Seven people died when the temporary stage structure at the 2011 Indiana State Fair collapsed in severe weather. The useful planning lesson is not that storms are dangerous. The investigations found structural deficiencies, unclear…
Or go somewhere else entirely