All language subtitles for Historys Most Shocking S01E05 1080p WEB h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

- Tonight, on "History's
Most Shocking".

How to survive when your
plane hits another plane.

[explosion booming]

- [Rodorigo] I could
hear metal screeching,

stuff's exploding
all around you.

- [Tony] How to escape
a stalking cougar.

- [Kyle] I don't feel
like dying today.

- The number one rule is
to not mimic prey behavior.

- [Tony] How to drive
out of a forest fire.

- Around 250 degrees,

the rubber can start
to lose integrity.

- [Tony] Why are escalators
creating human pileups?

- There's been a critical
mechanical failure.

- [Tony] Why did
this hotel collapse?

- The weight of the structure
just cascades all the way down.

- [Tony] And a lesson
from a 1990s stunt man

on why you should
never be buried alive.

- He didn't only have
the risk of suffocation,

he's also handcuffed
and restrained.

- [Tony] Disasters.

- [Broadcaster]
Oh, the humanity.

[people screaming]

- [Tony] Shocking video.

Life or death decisions.

Behind histories caught
on camera moments...

- What to do with
one dead whale.

- [Tony] Are the mysteries
of how and why they happen.

- Some sort of metal fatigue
was most likely at fault.

[people screaming]

- It's like a bulldozer.

Very few buildings
can actually withstand

that force of moving water.

- I'm Tony Harris.

[cougar roaring]

[motorbike whining]

- Prepare to be shocked.

[dramatic music]

Good evening and welcome to
"History's Most Shocking".

Skydiving sends thrill seekers
hurtling toward the Earth

at 120 miles per hour.

But what happens when things
get a little too thrilling

before you even left the plane?

[suspenseful music]

November 2nd, 2013,

it's late afternoon at Richard
I. Bong Memorial Airport

in Superior, Wisconsin.

Skydivers Chad Ebling
and John Rodorigo,

along with Amy
Olson and Trish Roy,

are with five of their friends

preparing for their
last jump of the day.

- We spent all day
jumping with each other,

having a lot of fun.

- It was right around sunset,

because it's the
last jump of the day,

let's do something special.

- [Tony] As the sun goes down,

the nine sky divers take
off in two separate planes

to complete what is
called a formation jump.

- The plan for the skydive
was the four people

in the lead plane
exit their aircraft

and we would dive down to them

and form a big, round,
star formation.

- [Tony] Once the two planes
reach about 12,000 feet,

the sky divers prepare to jump.

- I was in the lead plane,
so we started our climb out.

- [Tony] But in
the trailing plane,

Chad realizes something
is very wrong.

- We saw them getting closer

than they should
have been, by a lot.

And that's when we knew there
was no coming out of it.

- [Tony] Suddenly, the
two planes collide.

[people shouting]
[intense music]

[air whooshing]

- [Tony] Here's another look.

In the lead plane,
the impact knocks

the sky divers off the wing.

While from the trailing plane,

two cameras capture
the impending collision

and how quickly
tragedy can strike.

- [Diver] (bleep)
[intense music]

[explosion booming]
(bleep)

- I could hear, like, metal
screeching, stuff's on fire,

exploding all around you.

As I was falling,

I thought that I might be the
only one that was left alive.

- It became survival mode,

because once we were
out of the plane,

there was nothing I
could do for anyone else.

[tense music]

- So, most experienced sky
divers typically release

their parachutes at around
3,000 feet above the ground.

This accident occurred
at about 12,000 feet.

So these pros had some
time to gather themselves

and try to survive this crisis.

That being said, something
obviously went wrong here,

but what, and what happened
to the people involved?

[suspenseful music]

Could the wind have blown
these planes together?

Specifically something
called wind shear,

which is when the wind
suddenly blows harder

or in a different direction,
knocking the plane off course.

- If wind shear was an issue,

what you would see is violent
movement and maneuvering.

You'd see the horizon go back
and forth and up and down,

and you'd see the
airplane move around

in a very erratic fashion,
being affected by a wind shear.

- [Tony] But we don't see that
in the helmet cam footage.

So if a natural wind
didn't cause the collision,

could it be the air the
lead plane left in its wake?

- Wake turbulence
involves the airflow

as it's coming across the wings,

that can disturb
the air behind it.

However, that's really limited

to when you have smaller,
recreational aircraft

moving close to a
giant, you know,

C-47, something like that.

But both aircraft
are the same size.

- [Tony] Instead, there could be
a far more mundane explanation.

- They are like, on two
ends of the letter V

moving towards the common point.

Just as when you're
sitting in a car,

you can't see all
points around you.

In a word, these planes are
in each other's blind spot.

- It's kind of a a
cardinal rule from pilots

where you don't move
where you can't see.

Normally, the procedure for
aircraft flying in formation

is if the trailing aircraft's
lost the lead aircraft,

you do whatever is necessary to
regain sight of that aircraft

before changing
direction or altitude.

- The NTSB determine
the probable cause

of the accident was the
failure of the in trail pilot

to maintain visual separation

from the airplane
in front of it.

It turns out that both pilots
were not properly trained

with regards to proper
separation standards

and formation flying for
parachute operations.

- [Tony] With so
much that went wrong,

you'd expect mass
casualties here,

but Chad and John, along with
all the other sky divers,

including the pilots, were safe.

- It was really kind of
joyful to see everybody,

like one at a time, make it
down with no broken bones

or serious cuts.

- As much as went wrong
to make this happen,

I think there was more
things went right.

[tense music]

- Our takeaway, pilot error,

the NTSB report made
that perfectly clear.

But don't think that'll stop

any of these skydivers
from jumping again.

All I can say is,
better you than me.

Now, let's turn up the heat.

Any animal, including humans,

will do anything to
escape being burned alive.

But that doesn't mean we
always do the right thing.

What would you do if
you found yourself

in a situation like this?

[tense music]

August 12th, 2018,

Glacier National Park, Montana.

Justin Bilton and his
dad Charlie are enjoying

a camping trip near Lake
McDonald when they see

what looks to be a
small contained fire

on a ridge in the distance.

They decide to evacuate,
but then this happens.

- [Tony] A bright, red
glow fills the sky

as smoke surrounds the car.

Justin, who is behind the
wheel, starts to panic.

- That's when I was
like, oh my God,

like, this is a situation
that we might not get out of.

- [Tony] A wall of
flames confronts them,

but despite the
harrowing situation,

dad, Charlie, keeps his cool.

- I'm like, kind of panicking,

and my dad is like some
kind of Jedi or something,

'cause he's just like perfectly,

he's like, "It's fine,
just keep going."

- [Tony] Justin's right,
they weren't out of it,

not by a long shot.

- [Justin] This is
all of a sudden

like a life and death situation,

like wrath of God kinda stuff.

And we're seeing trees
that are not on fire,

just light completely on fire,

like a matchstick, in seconds.

That's like how hot it was

and how quickly the
fire was spreading.

- [Tony] After traversing
this hellscape

without any major obstacles,

Justin and Charlie suddenly
reached the end of the road.

We kept going until
finally, we see the tree

that has blocked the road.

And it was at that point that
I finally dropped the phone.

- Justin and Charlie got
trapped in what became known

as the Howe Ridge Fire.

- The Howe Ridge
Fire was ignited

by lightning happening
in several places.

And to everyone's shock,
that fire kept growing,

more than doubling
from what it was then.

- [Tony] Lightning may
have started the fire,

but that's not the
reason it became so huge.

- The fire started
pretty modestly,

just 5 acres, but then
it exploded to 2,000.

And what was the culprit?

The wind.

Strong winds
fanning those flames

and spreading them rapidly.

- The Howe Ridge Fire
would ultimately consume

more than 14,000 acres
of Glacier National Park.

So how did Justin and his
dad make it out alive?

Were Justin's fears of the
car blowing up justified?

We ask our experts.

[tense music]

- Justin and Charlie
actually did the right thing

by getting in their car

and trying to drive
out of the area

as quickly as they could.

One thing you don't want to
do is get out of the car.

You will never be able to
outrun a wildfire on foot.

I don't care what movies
and television tell you,

that's not how it
actually works.

- [Tony] But could
the car actually be

its own ticking time bomb,
just like Justin thought?

- Fortunately, this is
not as high of a risk

as we see in the movies.

[explosion booming]
We really only see that

when cars themselves
are already on fire

and have been for some time.

Gasoline engines
are already designed

to operate at high
temperature and pressure.

- [Tony] Instead, Szydagis
says the bigger danger

is the car's tires.

- Around 250 degrees Fahrenheit,

the rubber in your
tires can start

to lose structural integrity.

And between 500 and 600
degrees, they can even ignite.

- [Tony] But before
that happened,

Justin and Charlie were
able to turn around

and make it back to Lake
McDonald, driving carefully.

Not filming might have
helped their concentration

and miraculously, they
found a way back to safety.

- There was a boat there, which
was just two park employees,

and we waved them down and
they came in and they got us.

and we waved them down and
they came in and they got us.

It was kinda when we realized,

like, we're actually
gonna be okay.

[tense music]

- The takeaway, looks
like this father-son duo

did everything right.

But don't think this
is the last time

we'll see Glacier
National Park ablaze.

According to the
National Park Service,

there has been a fire there

almost every year
of its existence.

- New Orleans has
become a major southern hub

for entertainment and nightlife.

But when one famous
hospitality brand

tried to build big
in the Big Easy,

things became
difficult and deadly.

[tense music]

It's October 12th, 2019,
in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Workers are a year and
a half into construction

of a new 18 story Hard
Rock Hotel on Canal Street,

not far from the French
Quarter, famous for Mardi Gras.

Nothing seems out
of the ordinary

until suddenly,
disaster strikes.

- [Witness] Oh my God.

- [Tony] Let's
take another look.

A driver has his camera
out at a stoplight

and captures the moment the
building partially collapses,

the top floors pancaking
the others on the way down.

Debris crashes
down from the roof,

nearly crushing several
fleeing workers.

Meanwhile, streetcar passenger,

Fallon O'Brien,
captures the incident

from a more dangerous angle.

- [Witness] Get to the
back, get to the back.

- [Tony] She's recording
as the building collapses

around her trolley.

- You couldn't see 100 to
200 feet in front of you.

Everything was just gray
and very apocalyptic,

and people were covering
their mouth, and screaming,

and ducking, and just
running as fast as they can

away from the site.

- [Tony] Even after
the smoke cleared,

the threat didn't subside.

- There were these
huge, like, cranes

that were dangling so
precariously over the building.

It was a very
dangerous situation.

- [Tony] This disaster
brings to mind

another building collapsed.

In 1973, the Skyline
Plaza apartment building

in Northern Virginia fell
down while under construction,

killing 14 workers.

A Bureau of Standards
investigation concluded

it happened because key
supports under the floors

were removed too soon.

[tense music]

Tragically, the collapse
of the Hard Rock

killed three
construction workers

and injured more
than a dozen others.

It shut down part of Canal
Street for more than a year.

The question for investigators,

how did this terrible
accident happen?

[tense music]

Local news outlets reported
that important changes

were made to this hotel
during construction.

Hard Rock International
says they only had

a brand licensing deal
with the local owners

and had nothing to do
with the construction.

They're not currently
named in any lawsuits.

The owners developing the
site though were named

in a lawsuit alleging there
were delays and design changes.

- The owners had apparently
asked the architects

to increase the height
of the ceilings of floors

at the top of the hotel.

- They wanted to have
these penthouse floors

and added an infinity
pool and this rooftop bar,

which didn't meet
the code standards.

- [Tony] According to
investigative news reports,

after the owners
were denied a request

to raise the height
of the whole building,

the design team allegedly
found a workaround

to add the additional space,

making the horizontal beams
supporting some floors thinner.

- They reportedly
reduced the size of beams

supporting the 17th and
18th floors to 10 inches

to make more room
for ceiling heights.

However, the problem was
that the newly designed beams

were not strong enough

to support the weight
of those floors.

- [Tony] An OSHA citation,
naming the engineer,

also found the floor
beams on the 16th floor

did not meet load requirements.

And Mabry says those
last minute adjustments

to the top floors may have
been what ultimately led

to the hotel's downfall.

- It was the 16th
floor that gave way,

with the 17th and 18th
floor moving in tandem,

causing that combined
weight to just continue

to cascade down that
side of the building.

- [Tony] The news
investigations also yielded

another shocking allegation.

Inspectors apparently signed off

on much of this without doing
actual physical inspections.

It's been reported that they
improperly passed off photos

taken by the construction
teams as their own.

- The collapse of this Hard
Rock Hotel in New Orleans

has really led to people
being concerned more

about building safety.

- It's torn the city
apart to some degree.

You know, there was a
lot of pointing fingers

and who was to blame?

[building crashing]
- [Witness] Oh my God.

- [Witness] Get to the
back, get to the back.

- The takeaway, investigators
say this collapse

was a result of underrated
building materials

and code violations.

In October 2023,

a grand jury voted against
any criminal indictments,

but civil suits against the
developers are in mediation.

Now, from a manmade
disaster to a natural one.

Tornadoes are among

the most menacing meteorological
events known to man.

Some create ferocious
interior winds

reaching up to 300
miles per hour.

We've seen them topple
cars, destroy homes,

and send objects
flying miles away.

But I don't know if
we've ever seen this.

[suspenseful music]

January 7th, 2008.

It's an unseasonably warm

and stormy day over
central Illinois.

A freight train is
rolling down the tracks

near the town of Lawrence,
when suddenly the trees sway

and debris starts to fly
in the air, it's a tornado.

and debris starts to fly
in the air, it's a tornado.

[suspenseful music]

Then the train's black
box camera captures this.

[train screeching]

Sparks shoot off the tracks

as several other cars
come toppling down.

If that wasn't enough,
one of the trailing cars,

carrying the explosive
chemical ethylene oxide,

barrels toward the camera,

eventually crashing and
sending thousands of pounds

of metal into the air.

- [Tony] What kind of tornado
would be strong enough

to derail a freight train
like the one we just saw

taking a tumble in Illinois?

Based on their wind
speeds and impact,

tornadoes are rated on
what's called the EF,

or Enhanced Fujita Scale.

- It goes from zero, which
is a fairly weak one,

- It goes from zero, which
is a fairly weak one,

to five, which are
the massive ones

that could just wipe
out whole towns.

Now this isn't the first time

that tornadoes have
blown trains off tracks.

For example, the 2021
Western Kentucky tornado,

a long-track EF4 that went
through several counties,

and it derailed 27 train cars,

one of which was found
75 yards from the tracks.

- Back in 2008, an
EF4 tornado hit a dorm

on a Tennessee college campus.

The destruction was so bad,

emergency responders showed
up with 100 body bags,

but miraculously not
a single person died.

Here's the weird thing,

the tornado in our video
was a much weaker EF2,

so how did it flip a train?

[tense music]

- A fully loaded railroad car

and its commodity can
weigh up to 286,000 pounds.

That's 143 tons.

So you wouldn't think a
wind would knock one over.

- [Tony] But note
the word loaded.

Quimby thinks the
difference here

is that some of these rail
cars may have been empty.

He says an empty rail
car can be susceptible

to tipping even when
you'd least expect it.

- Trains that are
going over open areas

are much more susceptible
to blow overs.

If you had an empty railroad car

sitting on perfectly flat
track, wind can move that car.

It doesn't have to
be a tornado either,

it can be just a 30
mile an hour wind

if the hand brakes
aren't applied.

- [Tony] And these
winds were estimated

at 110 miles per hour
when they collided

with the fast moving train,
which in itself was cruising

at a steady 40 to
50 miles per hour.

So if it's known that wind can
be a factor in derailments,

what should have happened?

- Most railroads have rules,

particularly if it's
a perpendicular wind,

is blowing more than
50 miles an hour,

they'll tell the train
crews to slow down,

just like an air traffic
controller is to an airplane.

But weather related
events are time sensitive

and depends on how quickly the
railroad can respond to them.

Trains aren't like automobiles,
they can't stop on a dime.

These events happen so quickly

that even the weather predictors
cannot keep up with them.

- The takeaway, this
accident appears to be

a chain reaction started
by empty train cars.

And while the town
of Lawrence, Illinois

was completely evacuated

as authorities cleaned
up the chemical spill,

there were luckily no deaths

or injuries related
to the crash.

Moving on, the gentle,
frictionless glide

of an escalator is
one of the many

modern conveniences
we take for granted.

But riding escalators
isn't without risk.

In fact, in China,

it is the leading
cause of injuries

and death related to
special equipment.

Here's why.

[suspenseful music]

It's February 18th,
2016 in Ningbo, China.

Commuters are heading
up toward ground level

from a bustling subway station.

The vast majority of people

take the escalator
instead of the stairs.

It's a choice
they'll soon regret.

[people screaming]
[intense music]

Let's look at that again.

CCTV footage records the
moment the escalator,

that's going up,
suddenly reverses,

and shoots dozens of riders into
a tangled pile at the bottom.

Here we see a woman
in a pink coat

getting crushed by
a pile of commuters.

Another angle filmed

by a commuter on a cell
phone shows the pile up

on the floor, as
those getting crushed

on the bottom scream out.

[people screaming]

- Not only are things
happening so fast

that you kind of can't
even get your bearings

or try to run up, but I have
to imagine it was really scary.

- [Tony] It turns out
this reversal of fortune

happens more often
than you'd think.

Check out this commuter
crush in South Korea,

which injured 14 people.

And this footage of a
shopping mall escalator

in the Philippines
that suddenly sent

at least 20 reeling backwards.

- It's moving so quickly
with people just piling up

on top of each other,

and escalators are made
of a lot of sharp parts.

I'd be really afraid
of a foot, or a finger,

or something else
getting sucked into it.

- [Tony] But when it comes
to escalator mayhem in China,

McCarthy says unfortunately,
we shouldn't be surprised.

- China's a huge country, and
according to one 2015 report,

110,000 escalators in the
country have safety issues.

And it seems like subway
stations in particular

are really susceptible
to escalator issues

like the ones we see here.

[tense music]

- You've probably heard the
escalator etiquette rule,

stand right, walk left.

Well, that method has
actually been found

to cause uneven
wear on escalators,

upping the risk of malfunction.

Is that what happened
in this case?

Let's see if our experts can
take us to another level.

[suspenseful music]

First, we consider
if it could have been

a problem with the engine.

- According to city officials,

the motor on this
escalator was changed

just a few months
before this incident.

And they say that
everything was working fine,

there were no obvious
problems with it.

But what's being found regularly

across subway stations in China

is that light duty escalators
are being installed

instead of heavy duty escalators

that are much more
fit for purpose.

- [Tony] It turns out,
a light duty escalator

is what you would
install in, say,

a small shopping
center or hotel.

It would have smaller
specifications

than a heavier duty escalator,

such as a smaller track radius,

since it is carrying
fewer people

for a shorter period of time.

This cost saving measure likely
isn't happening in the US,

but its estimated escalators

still cause 15 times more
injuries than elevators,

even though there
are nearly 30 times

more elevators in the us.

And luckily, no one was
seriously hurt in this case.

But what should you do
if it happens to you?

It's all about not panicking.

- Panic results in chaos,
results in unnecessary injury.

- [Tony] Instead, follow
the example of this guy,

who remains calm,
cool, and collected.

- The best thing you
can do is take a moment

to just turn around, go in the
direction that you're moving,

see if there's a different
way you can escape.

[suspenseful music]

- The takeaway, this was
likely a mechanical malfunction

caused by overuse and
lower quality equipment,

although Chinese officials claim
the motor on this escalator

was changed just a few months
prior to this incident.

But if I ever visit,

I will seriously consider
taking the stairs.

- A peaceful hike
in the mountains

suddenly turns into a
high stakes standoff

between man and beast.

If this happened to you,

would your animal
instincts help you survive?

[suspenseful music]

October 10th, 2020,

Kyle Burgess is on a solo run

in the Wasatch Range
of Provo, Utah.

He's enjoying the breathtaking
scenery along the trail

He's enjoying the breathtaking
scenery along the trail

when he spots the
tiny silhouette

of a small, feline creature.

- I pulled my phone out

'cause I saw like little
baby things in the trail,

I thought were bobcats.

So I was like, oh, cool.

As I start getting this video,

within two steps, I realized,

nope, not bobcats.

- [Tony] Nope, that's
not one, not two,

but an entire family of cougars,

a much bigger type of feline.

And this is the ferociously
protective mother.

- [Kyle] Oh, (bleep).
Oh, (bleep).

[cougar roaring]

I didn't really know what
to do in the situation.

And so, part of me
just was like,

let's just improvise and
we'll see what happens.

Go away.

Go away, please go away.

- [Tony] The wild predator
pursues him up the path.

Kyle steadily walks backwards,

grunting at the beast,
trying to scare it away.

[Kyle grunting]

- I didn't want to turn around.

If she did attack me, I wanna
see this encounter happen.

Go away, go get your babies.

I just started yelling,
I started barking.

I was doing everything
I think I could.

I'm big and scary, go away.

- [Tony] But mama is relentless,

hissing and bearing
her teeth at Kyle,

committed to protecting
her offspring

by any means necessary.

- I gotta keep my footing,

I gotta keep my eye
contact with her,

'cause every single
time I looked away,

she just darts right towards me.

[cougar roaring]

No.
[cougar roaring]

No, get the (bleep) away,

stupid kitty cat, I don't
feel like dying today.

- Typically, cougars
hunt at dawn and dusk,

and they attack and kill
their prey by stalking them.

They'll usually leap
on them from behind

and deliver a killing bite
to the back of the neck

or the back of the head.

They have a bite force of
400 pounds per square inch.

- [Tony] The cougar once
inhabited almost every section

of the United States
until the early 1900s

when they were nearly
hunted to extinction

in the Midwest and eastern US

But new research suggests that
after a century of decline,

these cats are
repopulating in a big way,

sometimes at the expense
of their human neighbors.

- In January 2004,

a mountain biker in
California was killed

by a cougar while
he was leaning down

and repairing the
chain on his bike.

That same cougar attacked
another mountain biker

that same day.

- [Tony] In short, Kyle
was right to be scared.

- I was trying to think of
all the different outcomes.

She's either gonna get
me or I can maybe come up

with some crazy thing, scenario,

where I come out unscathed.

[cougar roaring]

- There have only been 27
known fatal cougar attacks

in the past 100 years, far
fewer than the body count

of the North
American black bear,

which has killed
nearly 25 people

in the past two decades alone.

So how did Kyle get
out of this jam?

Was he smart or
was he just lucky?

[suspenseful music]

Many people suggest

that Kyle was just in the
wrong place at the wrong time.

[cougar roaring]

- The second you see that
cub at the end of the trail,

you know that its mom
is not far behind.

He was there, in my opinion,
just a little too long,

and that's where
she's gonna feel

like she has to
stand her ground.

- [Tony] But it turns out
there are very specific ways

to handle an animal
showdown like this.

- The number one rule
is to remain calm

and not to mimic prey behavior.

When you're taking your
eyes off the animal,

you're presenting as prey,

you're making yourself
more susceptible

to really being attacked.

Stand your ground, appear
to be intimidating,

but keep your wits about you,

don't turn your back, and
very slowly start moving away.

[intense music]

- Even if you
wanted to run away,

cougars can run up
to 50 miles an hour,

so you don't have a chance
against this animal,

it will win against you.

[cougar roaring]

- [Tony] But Kyle never runs.

Instead, he fights back.

- Once I kind of got this
distance between her,

I was like, hey,
this is my time,

let's grab a rock
and throw it at her.

- [Tony] Maintaining eye
contact, Kyle throws the rock.

- [Kyle] Go!

- [Tony] And six minutes
into the encounter,

she's had enough and takes off.

- Yeah, so that just happened.

Wow, holy cow.

Wow, holy cow.

[tense music]

- Our takeaway, it looks like
Kyle did all the right things

in this crisis.

But a word to the wise,

the next time you see a cute
little animal in the wild,

there's most likely a
much bigger parent around

who already has its eyes on you.

- Now, let's rewind for this
week's throwback segment,

back to the late 20th
century to be precise.

When daredevils like Evel
Knievel were household names

and sensational stunts
were a regular feature

of the cultural landscape.

of the cultural landscape.

Some of those stunts were
executed successfully,

others were executed like this.

[suspenseful music]

October 30th, 1992,
Indianapolis, Indiana.

To honor Halloween and
the 66th anniversary

of Harry Houdini's death,

local radio man and
escape artist Bill Shirk,

who calls himself the
modern day Houdini,

is preparing for a death-defying
stunt in an empty lot.

- How you feeling, Bill?

- Little nervous.

- [Tony] Bill's about to be
buried alive six feet under

in this plexiglass casket.

The stunt is that
he's going to escape.

He's shackled in
30 pounds of chains

with his hands and
legs in metal cuffs.

A foot of dirt is shoveled
around the casket.

Then, a truck backs
in to fill the hole

with seven tons of fresh cement.

But 20 minutes later,
this suddenly happens.

[people shouting]

- Dig him up.
- Everybody, get back!

- [Tony] Watch that
again, closely.

Do you see how the level of
the cement mixture sinks?

The casket has collapsed
from the weight

and Shirk is buried below.

- Shirk himself is now buried
under all of this debris.

He is stuck and
trapped under there.

- [Tony] The godfather
of all escape artists,

Harry Houdini, tried
his own version

of the buried alive trick
in 1915 and barely survived.

He successfully
performed a similar stunt

where he sealed himself in a
casket for more than an hour,

at least three
times above ground

or while submerged in water,

but never again while
actually buried.

And other escape artists
haven't been so fortunate.

- This trick was
attempted two years prior

by another magician, going
by The Amazing Joe Burrus.

He was lowered into
a six foot grave

and dirt and cement
was poured on top.

But unfortunately, the
plexiglass casket malfunctioned

and he was not able to escape.

- Once it is in the ground,

your standard coffin
will be covered

with about 65
cubic feet of dirt.

With dirt weighing about
40 pounds per cubic foot,

the total load on
top of the casket

would be more than 2,500 pounds.

And that's not even factoring

that in this case, we're
talking about cement.

So how did the
stunt go so wrong,

and did Bill Shirk
manage to survive?

[suspenseful music]

First, how is this
stunt supposed to work?

Well, some of the mishaps
were actually anticipated.

- From what I read about
this particular stunt,

they expected the
casket to collapse.

I'm not sure if they expected
it to happen this soon,

but what I do know
is that apparently

there was a cavity to
the side of his casket.

His task was to
escape his bindings

to get out of the coffin and
get himself into that cavity

so that when the
coffin collapsed,

he had a little bit of space,

which would give his
team time to get to him.

- [Tony] Still,
even if the collapse

wasn't completely unexpected,

Shapiro says this
is as dangerous

as a mountain climber being
buried in an avalanche.

- After 30 minutes, the
amount of carbon dioxide

in that small space
would probably build

to a point at which
your hypercapnic,

meaning you have a lot
of CO2 in your blood.

Eventually, you become hypoxic

and the amount of oxygen
in your blood is decreased

to the point at which

your functionality
starts to decrease,

and then you're
really in trouble.

- [Tony] And apart
from a lack of oxygen,

there are other dangers
Shirk had to face,

because they were
literally in his face.

- This right there
takes my breath away.

You could see that
casket collapses

and the little bit of
air he had with him

rises up through the cement.

It would be very
hard to take breaths

without introducing
dirt into your airway.

- [Tony] The good news,

we were able to ask Bill
himself how it all played out.

He says, 40 seconds after
the casket collapsed

due to the weight of
the cement pressing

on the flimsy plexiglass coffin,

a backhoe rushed in to scoop
out the tons of sopping cement.

- They dug down to the level
of where the grave was,

and I wasn't there.

And I said, "Help, help",

you know, "Help me,
help me, I'm dying."

- [Tony] Finally, nearly
half an hour after Bill

was last seen alive, just
as the risk of hypoxia

is getting serious, a sign.

- And so I then just thrust up

with every ounce
of strength I had.

The hand came up and they
grabbed it and pulled me up.

- [Tony] So in the
end, how did he do it?

- There was a trap door on
the bottom of the casket

through which he
was able to escape

and crawl into a
very small cove.

In that cove, he had a
bucket size area of air,

which he was breathing very
slowly in order to survive

until the backhoe was
able to dig him out.

- [Tony] Shirk says he had
nearly 40 minutes of oxygen,

and where others
may have panicked,

he practiced the three Cs,

staying calm, cool,
and collected.

- I have, in my life, done
a lot of underwater stunts

where I've held my breath,

where I've held my control
on how much you breathe.

And I believed in my own mind

that the backhoe would reach me.

[tense music]

- The takeaway,
proper preparation

and the positive power of
negative thinking saved Shirk.

and the positive power of
negative thinking saved Shirk.

Shirk knew the casket
could collapse all along

and devised a clever
plan for survival.

Shirk has since retired

and he is now enjoying
his golden years

that many thought
he would never see.

- Some people
just have a need for speed,

and there may be no better
way to scratch that itch

than in a speedboat.

Of course, those
thrills come with risks.

Is it worth it?

Watch this and then decide.

[tense music]

August 27th, 2011,

racers from all over
Europe are competing

for the Scandinavian
championship title

at the Grimstad
Powerboat Show in Norway.

Frode Sundsdal, a
decorated racer,

is competing in Formula 2,

where catamarans
boasting 200 horsepower

reached speeds near
120 miles per hour.

The race begins.

But in less than 10
seconds, mayhem ensues.

[suspenseful music]

Frode's boat flips

simultaneously with
another racer's,

as both land in the water
with an enormous splash.

- There's no time to be
scared, because it's so quick.

You are upside down in
a split of a second,

even though it feels
like a lifetime.

Everything is dark and
everything is smashed to pieces.

I've experienced a 30G impact.

- [Tony] One of the first
ever power boat races

was called the Gold Cup,
which took place in 1904

on the Hudson River.

Back then, the winning
boat claimed victory

at breakneck speeds
around 25 miles per hour.

Over the years,

the speeds have increased,
as well as the dangers.

- [Narrator]
Something goes wrong,

the four ton Miss
Bardahl explodes.

- [Tony] Still, the thrill
of watching these races

on the water carries on more
than a hundred years later.

These kind of powerboat racing
accidents aren't uncommon.

They're almost expected,

kind of like pileups
at NASCAR events.

But why do they happen?

And what caused these two
boats to flip simultaneously?

[tense music]

Whether it's planes,
trains, automobiles,

or boats, when it
comes to accidents,

speed is almost always an issue.

- The problem here is
the faster you move,

the ship starts to go like
this at a certain angle

as it cruises on the
surface of the water.

When it hits a certain critical
angle, it will tip over.

And you have to be
a seasoned veteran

in order to know exactly what
angle is the tipping angle.

- [Tony] Critical angle
is always an issue

because Formula 2 catamarans
ride on a cushion of air

to reduce contact
with the water.

If you've ever driven
through a heavy rainstorm,

it's a phenomenon,
you've probably heard of,

hydroplaning.
[tires screeching]

- When a car begins to travel
over a thin layer of water,

if you travel more
than 35 miles per hour,

you can actually ride on
the surface of the water

and lose traction.

- [Tony] But unlike a car
that may spin out of control,

Kaku explains the design
of these boats tends

to move them up in the air.

- It's almost like an airplane,

the pressure on the top

and the bottom of a
wing are different.

And as a consequence,
the wing will float.

Here, you have a
similar situation

where the pressure on the top

and the bottom of the
ship are different,

and as a consequence,
you lose control.

- [Tony] But why
did these boats flip

at the exact same time?

- When two boats are getting
close and gets side by side,

and when there is no room for
air to pass through the boats,

you are doubling
your air cushion.

- [Tony] Luckily, both boaters
lived to see another race.

- I had, of course, a lot
of bruises, a lot of pain.

But considering the
accident and the impact,

we were both extremely lucky.

And I'm proud to say I'm still
racing, some 10 years later.

- [Tony] Our takeaway,
improper distance.

The excess air under the
boats had nowhere to go,

causing too much lift

and flipping them
over simultaneously.

And that's our show for tonight.

Thank you so much for watching
and stay safe out there.

[intense music]