Catastrophic failure is a failure which not only cannot be recovered from (the system which experiences it is destroyed beyond any reasonable possibility of repair), but also causes injury, death, or significant damage to other, often unrelated systems.

Examples include:

• The Tacoma Narrows Bridge
• The Hyatt Regency walkway collapse
• The Space Shuttle Challenger
• The Catastrophic Dam Failures in China in August 1975

See also

• Structural failure