A photograph from 2019 shows two Colombian soldiers giving a final salute as they free fall. The rope that was carrying them suddenly broke during an airshow.
The Mauritanian iron ore train is one of the longest and heaviest trains in the world and the most unique and incredible railway journeys one can take.
The train is up to 3 km (1.8 miles) in length, travels on a single track of 704 kilometres (437 miles), with 200 โ 300 freight carriages, weighing up to a total of 84 tons.
The sole purpose of the train is to export iron ore from the mining town of Zouerate to the Port of Nouadhibou via Choum in Mauritania, Northwest Africa.
But the state agency, Sociรฉtรฉ Nationale Industrielle et Miniรจre, allows locals and tourists to board the train and use it as a mean of transportation between inland of the country and the coastline.
One cannot expect any levels of comfort one would find on other passenger trains around the world, though. This train has no ticket, no conductor, no dining cart, or any sort of announcements.
It is not bound to any timetable and may leave earlier or later than the usual departure time. This also means the arrival time is not fixed to a certain time and a single trip can take from 11 to 15 hours under the sun, at an average temperature of 40ยฐC.
If I ever travel with you and youโre not about gettin to the airport 1.5 hours prior watching A350โs, 777 take offโฆ wrong travel parter โฆ.. just imagine hearing a Concorde take off
In 1990, the windshield of British Airways Flight 5390 came off at an altitude of 17,000 feet. This triggered a sudden decompression in the cockpit, resulting in the captain being partially ejected out of the aircraft.
As luck would have it, Nigel Ogden, a flight attendant, was on his way into the cockpit at that moment. He managed to grab hold of the captain and maintain his grip for over 20 minutes while the copilot attempted an urgent landing.
Although the majority of the crew presumed that the pilot had already lost his life, Ogden did not let go.
There was a prevailing fear that if Ogden did release his hold, the pilot's body might strike the plane's engine, wing, or stabilizer, causing even more chaos.
All Ogden knew was that the pilot was gradually slipping more and more out of the window and his head was continuously being battered against the airplane's body.
Finally, after a distressing 20-minute flight with a gaping window, the aircraft was safely brought down at Southampton Airport. In the course of events, Ogden suffered from frostbite on his face, damage to one of his eyes, and a dislocated shoulder. In a miraculous turn of events, the pilot survived the ordeal, although he had frostbite and multiple fractures on his arms and hands.
The image is a recreation from the television series "Mayday!"
The Vasa was a Swedish warship that unfortunately sank just about 20 minutes into its first voyage in 1628. It holds the unique status of being the only 17th-century ship completely recovered in its original form.
Sweden's King Gustavus Adolphus had commissioned the construction of the Vasa, as part of his military expansion plans. The ship was constructed in Stockholm's navy yard between 1626 and 1627. However, on its maiden voyage on August 10, 1628, it sank after encountering two strong gusts of wind.x
It was later discovered that the ship's construction was not symmetrical. Researchers found four different rulers used by the shipbuilders. Two of them used Swedish feet, which was 12 inches, while the other two used Amsterdam feet, which was only 11 inches.
Fred Hocker, an archaeologist at the Vasa Museum, explained, "When someone instructs to make something four inches thick, one builder's four inches might not be the same as the next builder's. This can be seen in the variations in the timbers."
When the ship was brought up from the sea in 1961, marine archaeologists found 15 human remains and a treasure trove of artifacts like coins, cutlery, cannons, clothing, food, drinks, and weapons.
Just a reminder that despite what you hear in the media, @Tesla not only builds the safest cars on the road, they also have the best driver assist features, scoring a near perfect 98% in independent @EuroNCAP testing.
Hereโs how the competition fared (hint: not well), with the Model Y saving the best for last.
@elonmusk@larsmoravy@baglino@tomzhu_nz