Other Non-astronaut Fatalities
| Date | Place | Death(s) | Associated Spacecraft | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968/5/16 | Cape Canaveral, USA | 1 | Saturn V | Pad worker William B. Bates, 46, was killed while hooking up a 20-cm high pressure water line to the mobile service structure on Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A. When he loosened the cap, which should not have been pressurized, it blew off with 180 psi pressure, striking him in the chest, killing him. |
| 1981/3/19 | Cape Canaveral, USA | 3 | STS-1 | Anoxia due to nitrogen atmosphere in the aft engine compartment of Columbia during preparations for STS-1. Five workers were involved in the incident and three died. John Bjornstad died at the scene. Forrest Cole and Nick Mullon died later from injuries sustained in the incident. |
| 1981/5/5 | Cape Canaveral, USA | 1 | STS-2 | Construction worker Anthony E. Hill, 22, fell more than 30 meters to his death from the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B service structure. Workers were preparing LC-39B for a planned September 1981 launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia. |
| 1985/12/4 | Vandenberg AFB, USA | 1 | Space Shuttle | Carl Reich, 49, of Lompoc, CA, an iron worker who was employed by Hensel Phelps Construction of Greely, CO, fell 18 stories to his death from the mobile service structure of the SLC-6 Space Shuttle launch complex. Mr. Reich was bolting a platform onto the structure. Workers were putting finishing touches on the Vandenberg AFB Space Shuttle launch complex. |
| 1988/5/4 | Henderson, NV USA | 2 | Two workers died in the PEPCON disaster, the explosion of a factory that produced ammonium perchlorate for the solid rocket boosters of the Space Shuttle and other launchers. | |
| 1989/12/22 | Cape Canaveral, USA | 1 | Atlas-Centaur | A worker refurbishing the 11th level of the Cape Canaveral, Atlas-Centaur Launch Complex 36B launch tower, was killed when an air hose he was using was caught by the pad elevator. The hose wrapped around the worker and pulled him into the elevator shaft, crushing and killing him. The pad was being refurbished for commercial satellite launches by General Dynamics starting in 1990. |
| 1995/5/5 | Guiana Space Centre, French Guyana | 2 | Anoxia; The new Ariane-5 launch area and Ariane-5 cryogenic M1 main stage were undergoing testing. Technicians Luc Celle and Jean-Claude Dhainaut died during an inspection within the umbilical mast of the launchpad. The cause of death was inhalation of air having a very low oxygen content. There was a reduced oxygen content because of a major nitrogen leak in the confined area of the umbilical mast. The nitrogen leak was caused due to a missing drainage plug in a nitrogen/iced water exchanger. | |
| 2001/7/8 | Cape Canaveral, USA | 1 | A worker suffered fatal injuries near Launch Complex 37 while disconnecting a coupling on a temporary pipe used to purge a liquid oxygen system. An unexpected build up of pressure caused the coupling to break loose and the employee was struck in the head. He died a short time later. This accident is also mentioned in reference article to crane accident listed below. | |
| 2001/10/1 | Cape Canaveral, USA | 1 | Crane operator Bill Brooks was killed in an industrial accident at Launch Complex 37 | |
| 2002/5/12 | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan | 8 | Workers repairing the roof of the Baikonur Cosmodrome N-1/Energia vehicle assembly building died when the roof suffered a total structural collapse. The Space Shuttle Buran was destroyed in this collapse. The roof crashed 80 meters to the ground. The bodies of 8 workers were later found in the debris. | |
| 2010/5/5 | Huntsville, AL, USA | 2 | Two workers were killed in an explosion in a solid rocket fuel reprocessing plant. | |
| 2011/3/14 | Cape Canaveral, USA | 1 | STS-134 | James Vanover, an engineer for United Space Alliance, committed suicide, falling to his death from the Kennedy Space Center LC-39A launch pad while preparing the STS-134 mission for its April 2011 scheduled launch. |
Read more about this topic: Space Accidents And Incidents, Non-astronaut Fatalities