Yahoo Autos These Are The Worst Adventure Tourism Disasters
The OceanGate Titan imploded while visiting the wreck of the Titanic.
For as long as there have been people, there have been the adventurous types. You know, the individuals that will push things closer and closer to the edge to get their kicks. These are the kinds of people that climb mountains, trek to the poles and undertake all manner of outlandish expeditions.
But with advances in technology, and an increasing number of super rich people with oodles of disposable income, entry into the exclusive club of explorers has been easier to come by. Travel agents can book you a helicopter that can drop you on the Antarctic peninsula, you can get a flight to the depths of the Himalayas and off-road adventurers edge ever closer to active volcanoes around the world.
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But despite the easy access, trips like this remain a risk and the dangers of such outlandish travel were plain to see when the OceanGate Titan submarine went missing earlier this month. But that disaster was the latest in a long line of mishaps that have befallen some of the most outlandish tourist destinations. Here are ten other adventurous trips that have been hit with disaster.
Around The World Adventure
If there’s one thing rich people love, it’s taking on an outlandish adventure. Virgin Atlantic founder Richard Branson is one such person. He’s taken to space with his Virgin Galactic project, crossed the English Channel in an amphibious car and attempted to circumnavigate the globe in a hot air balloon.
In 1998, Branson undertook his ‘round-the-world flight with teammates Steve Fossett and Per Lindstrand. However, the three were forced into the jaws of danger when the fabric in their balloon, called The Global Challenger, ripped apart ten miles off the coast of Hawaii. They were soon rescued and abandoned the trip.
Arctic Exploration
If you want to explore somewhere that remains untouched by humanity, the extremes of our planet are a good place to start. Regions in the Arctic offer a chance to explore untouched landscapes, pristine oceans and come face to face with wildlife you might normally never see (or want to).
But they’re also harsh environments that can bite back at any moment. British polar explorer Hannah McKeand found that out when her attempted trip to the North Pole was cut short when the helicopter that was due to fly her and her crew to a remote Arctic island crashed and marooned all on board. All four people on the helicopter survived the ordeal.
Disasters Close To Home
Disasters don’t just strike in far flung locations, they can also arise much closer to home. Earlier this year, upstate New York was rocked after an underground cave tour went horribly wrong.
A boat touring an underground stretch of the Erie Canal capsized. The trip through the Lockport Cave saw 28 passengers and one crew member fall from the boat when it overturned, with 11 people needing medical treatment and one man dying after the incident, CNN reports.
Climbing To Calamity
“Because it is there” was the reason given by British climber George Mallory when he thought about why anyone would want to climb Mount Everest. He died on his third attempt to climb the world’s tallest mountain.
In the years since, more than 6,000 people have summited the mountain in Nepal, with more than 300 people having died attempting the feat. So far, 2023 is proving to be the deadliest year on record for climbers on the mountain. In the 2023 season, which ended in May, 17 climbers lost their lives on the 29,000-foot mountain.
Canyon Crashes
But people preparing to hike the world’s tallest peak must be aware of the risks they’re facing, right? Tourists hopping into a helicopter to see the Grand Canyon, on the other hand, might not.
In 2018, a helicopter touring the Grand Canyon crashed, killing the five British tourists onboard. In the years following the incident, investigators uncovered the cause of the crash was due to “tailwinds, potential downdrafts and turbulence.” It also occurred in an area of the canyon where “air tours aren’t as highly regulated,” local news reported.
Into Cold Water
The only cruise I’d consider taking would be one to the Antarctic Peninsula. But the harsh landscapes and icy waters around the South Pole are unforgiving, which forced the U.S. Coast Guard to investigate tour operators in the region.
According to The Washington Post, authorities stepped in after a spate of deaths in Antarctica. According to the site, four U.S. citizens died on trips to the South Pole, including two that were killed when an inflatable vessel they were riding in capsized.
Sailing Civilians
Most people that attempt a round-the-world adventure have been planning the trip for years. They’ve assembled a team themselves, or are undertaking the mission solo in some outlandish record attempt. But a trip onboard a round-the-world clipper is meant to take away some of those stresses.
However, these mammoth sailing trips aren’t free from issues, as they see amateur teams take on some of the most challenging oceans on Earth. For 25 years, the Clipper Round the World yacht race has taken mixed-ability crews and trained them to take on the oceans. But according to a report from The Guardian the voyages can be fatal, with at least three paying crew members dying on the Clipper adventure between 2015 and 2017.
Heading Off-Road
If you prefer staying on dry(ish) land, then you might be the kind of person that takes to the off-road trails each weekend. Vehicles like the Jeep Wrangler or Land Rover Defender are built to tackle mud, dust and all manner of rocky obstacles, but having the best kit doesn’t really take away the risk.
In 2022, a team of adventurers learned this the hard way while off-roading in Colorado. According to NBC News, the team was traveling from the Yankee Boy Basin area in southwestern Colorado as part of an organized overlanding expedition when their Jeep Gladiator drifted off the edge. The driver and two passengers fell more than 200 feet to their deaths.
Island Adventures
Visiting an active volcano is a pretty intense way to witness the raw power of our planet. But while we have a much better understanding of volcanoes now than we did just 50 years ago, we can still be caught off-guard. That’s what happened in 2019 when New Zealand’s Whakaari, or White Island, volcano erupted while tourists were visiting the site.
The volcano, off the coast of New Zealand’s North Island, is the most active in the region, and regularly hosted tourists that were either shipped in from the mainland or flown over on helicopter. When it erupted on December 9, 2019, 47 people were stuck on the island. Rescue crews spent two weeks recovering those who were injured and over a dozen who were killed.
Flying Around
You might think that flying is a safer way to navigate the globe these days, as more than 100,000 flights take off from airports around the globe daily. But sadly, these journeys can be just as risky.
In 2014, 17-year-old Haris Suleman was attempting to set a new record for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe in a single-engine plane, as well as being the youngest person to make such a journey. However, just days before the conclusion of his trip, Time reported that his plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean.
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