Prepare to be amazed by incredible stories of survival against all odds! From plane crashes and natural disasters to volcanic eruptions and historic space missions, these incredible events showcase the remarkable resilience of human beings in the face of seemingly impossible circumstances.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at disasters and accidents that, against all odds,
00:12resulted in virtually no direct human fatalities. Frozen at 2.46pm, the exact moment a massive
00:19earthquake struck northeastern Japan and led to one of the worst nuclear disasters of all time.
00:25Delta Connection Flight 4819. They say it's statistically safer to fly than drive,
00:33although 2025 has seemingly provided a counter-argument.
00:37Yeah, it happened pretty dang quick, and we were just upside down hanging from our seatbelts.
00:42In barely a month, North America saw multiple U.S. aviation accidents. Among them was a Delta
00:48flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to Toronto Pearson International Airport.
00:53The Bombardier CRJ900LR crash-landed on February 17th, breaking into fragments.
01:00This audio from air traffic control warned pilots of tricky conditions on the runway.
01:06Yeah, slight bump in the glide path.
01:08A bulk of the smoking plane was left upside down on the snowy runway, with the passengers aboard
01:13literally hanging on for dear life. As deadly as the crash looked from the outside,
01:18all 80 occupants, including four crew members, survived. More than 20 were injured,
01:23but compared to some of the accidents that occurred over the previous weeks,
01:27this was the best outcome possible for such a chaotic crash.
01:31Officials say it is important things remain as they are, so transportation officials
01:36can get a good understanding of exactly what happened. We have more than 20 personnel
01:40from the Transportation Safety Board, U.S. officials, someone from the plane manufacturer
01:46taking a look at things, trying to find some answers.
01:48The Boscastle Flood. For the coastal English villages of Boscastle and Crackington Haven,
01:54August 16th, 2004 is a day that still lives in infamy.
01:58An intense and localized storm wrought havoc on one small corner of North Cornwall.
02:03The villages of Boscastle and Crackington Haven were the worst hit.
02:07Both villages endured eight hours of heavy rain, resulting in massive flash floods. Within two
02:13hours, these areas saw more than 60 millimeters of rainfall,
02:17about how much one would usually see in a month.
02:19There was this huge bang, and all of a sudden the river started flooding. And it just,
02:25it was literally in a matter of seconds. And within about 10 minutes,
02:28there was cars that were just floating downstream into the sea.
02:34Survivors still have vivid memories of people being trapped on rooftops,
02:38cars being washed away, and entire structures being destroyed,
02:42amounting to an estimated 15 million English pounds in damages.
02:46Some can even smell and hear the storm decades later.
02:50Although animals were reportedly trapped in sinking cars, no humans lost their lives
02:56during the floods. This was one silver lining in an event with lasting consequences.
03:01It's incredible to think that no one was badly injured or dragged out to sea by the sudden
03:06raging flood that caused so much devastation.
03:10Rome, New York tornado. People usually welcome a little wind during the middle of July.
03:16This wasn't the case in 2024, when New York and New Hampshire saw 14 reported tornadoes.
03:22This is what one of the strongest storms on record in Rome did to a brick wall. What stood
03:28for generations gone in minutes, leaving people astonished at what was left behind.
03:33The worst occurred in the Oneida County city of Rome. Commencing its rampage around the Erie Canal,
03:40the EF2 tornado raged through Rome to Griffiss Air Force Base. The storm was strong enough
03:46to move a B-52 bomber plane, with winds nearly reaching 80 miles per hour.
03:51As many people know, not every tornado warning actually leads to a tornado.
03:55But in this case, you could see the debris on the radar. And once we had that, we knew
04:01that we were going to be on the ground assessing the damage on that.
04:04Over 350 homes and several other structures, including two historic churches,
04:10faced significant damage. Despite the trail of destruction left behind,
04:14the citizens of Rome managed to ride out the storm with no casualties.
04:18Cleaning up the mess wouldn't be easy, but Rome wasn't built or rebuilt in a day.
04:23There's so much gratitude that nobody here died. People of Rome are very aware of that,
04:29and that's helping them get through. But the people here are still mourning the loss of the city
04:35they once knew. The Rim Fire. California is no stranger to wildfires.
04:41The Rim Fire of August 2013 is one still burned in many memories.
04:46The fire is northeast of Groveland in the Stanislaus National Forest in Tuolumne County.
04:51It has closed a four-mile stretch of Highway 120.
04:54The disaster stemmed from a hunter who illegally made a campfire in Stanislaus National Forest.
05:01The ensuing wildfire wouldn't be limited to this forest, with the damage extending to
05:05Yosemite National Park, also part of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.
05:10The Rim Fire, which has consumed more than 300 square miles since it began on August 17,
05:16is burning near the Tuolumne and Merced groves on the western boundary of the park.
05:22More than 4,000 firefighters from around the country have been battling the intense blaze.
05:27Covering more than 257,000 acres, the Rim Fire also destroyed 112 structures.
05:34Around $127 million went towards containing the fire, which lasted eight days.
05:40Although thankfully no people died, 10 were injured in what was then the third-largest
05:45wildfire in the state's history. Today, it's not even among California's 10 largest wildfires.
05:51Showing how this issue has continued to grow in just over a decade.
05:54I've fought fire from Alaska to Florida, from New England to California,
06:00and this is one of the toughest fights I've ever faced.
06:03Andrianoff Islands Earthquake
06:06The Andrianoff Islands are part of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.
06:10In March 1957, this island group marked the site of an 8.6 magnitude earthquake.
06:16This was just the beginning, as the earthquake triggered a tsunami that not only impacted
06:21Alaska, but also Hawaii, where damage was reportedly even worse. Destroying almost
06:2680 houses, Hawaii took a hit estimated to cost the state over $5 million dollars,
06:32which would be about 10 times more when adjusted for inflation.
06:35The earthquake that started it all remains one of the largest on record,
06:39but it wasn't among the deadliest. While a pilot and a photographer indirectly died
06:45trying to capture the destruction, neither the earthquake nor the tsunami claimed any lives.
06:50Air France Flight 358
06:53On August 2, 2005, 297 passengers and 12 crew members boarded a plane departing Paris, France.
07:01The landing seemed to be a bit fast, but we landed, so we seemed quite content with that.
07:09And then all hell broke loose because obviously the plane overshot the runway.
07:13The flight reached its destination of Ontario, Canada, but due to harsh weather conditions,
07:18the plane overshot the runway by roughly 300 meters. Eventually hitting Etobicoke Creek,
07:25the aircraft caught fire, with most of the plane's main body section burning to a crisp.
07:30It was apparently a passenger aircraft. Rescue vehicles rushed to the scene. It's in a wooded
07:37area, as you can see, near Highway 401. This is Canada's busiest highway.
07:43Judging from the aftermath, one might assume nobody could have walked away alive.
07:48In what many outlets described as a miracle, there were zero fatalities.
07:52That's not to say there weren't injuries, some more serious than others.
07:56Thanks to the efforts of the trained crew and good fortune, though,
08:00this story has a happier ending than anyone could have anticipated.
08:03As Flight 358 landed, a sharp line of rain moved across the runway from north to south.
08:09It was driven by a sudden gust of wind of up to 38 miles per hour.
08:14The crew of the Air France jet had to deal with conditions that were much worse than they were
08:19expecting. The Fukushima nuclear accident. The 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami didn't just
08:25lead to unspeakable damage and thousands of deaths. Whole towns were washed off the map,
08:30leaving nothing behind. Over 100,000 people were evacuated.
08:36This natural disaster caused the Fukushima nuclear accident,
08:39one of the worst incidents of its kind since Chernobyl. With the threat of radiation exposure,
08:44over 150,000 were evacuated. Cleanup efforts amounted to around 20 trillion yen,
08:50with numerous residents in the area choosing never to return.
08:53The tsunami flooded the nuclear power plant. Result?
08:57Massive overheating and reactors 1, 2 and 3 suffered meltdowns.
09:01Despite the scale and lasting effects of this disaster, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano
09:07Grossi claims no one died from radiation at Fukushima. Some called this into question,
09:12with several survivors reportedly getting cancer. One died from lung cancer, although it's unclear
09:18if this was radiation-related. With no deaths officially connected to the incident, Fukushima
09:24didn't quite reach Chernobyl level of notoriety. The 2011 disaster left Fukushima changed forever.
09:32The biggest difference between what happened in Chernobyl and what happened in Fukushima
09:37is that the Japanese government believe the area has to be cleared.
09:40Mauna Loa eruption. Mauna Loa isn't just the largest active volcano in Hawaii,
09:46it's the largest on Earth. After a four decades long slumber, the world's largest active volcano
09:52is now spewing molten lava and raining ash near the very top of Hawaii's big island.
09:57As such, this is the last volcano you want to see erupt.
10:01After 38 years without incident, Mauna Loa inevitably blew its top on November 27,
10:062022. The eruption lasted about two weeks, finally ending on December 13.
10:12With officials warning that lava could extend to public areas, many feared the worst.
10:17Sending these lava flows into completely uninhabited areas and we will have
10:21ample warning before anything encroaches into a residential area.
10:26Roughly 16 miles from the summit, it didn't put any people in harm's way.
10:30Public infrastructure damage reached approximately 1.5 million dollars,
10:35although this was minimal compared to what costs could have been.
10:38With no deaths, Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Talmadge Magno called this, quote,
10:44probably the best situation that we could ask for.
10:47Scientists say while everything is going according to script for now,
10:51there's obviously no saying what the future might bring.
10:55U.S. Airways Flight 1549. Few individuals have a better reputation for sticking the landing
11:01than Chelsea Sully-Sullenberger.
11:04It's a very vivid reminder to be here and to know that this is the place where it all had to happen.
11:10U.S. Airways Flight 1549 could have had a much deadlier outcome without Sullenberger
11:15and co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles at the helm.
11:18Departing from LaGuardia Airport, the Airbus A320 never arrived at its intended destinations.
11:24It didn't even depart from New York due to a flock of Canada geese.
11:28It was intense. It was sudden. Just 100 seconds after takeoff,
11:32we were suddenly confronted with this ultimate challenge of a lifetime.
11:35The collision left the engines out of commission, requiring an emergency landing.
11:39With their options limited,
11:41the pilots were forced to park the crashing aircraft on the Hudson River.
11:45Nearly half of the people on board would be hospitalized, five being seriously injured.
11:50Yet all 155 individuals were rescued alive,
11:54with New York State Governor David Patterson dubbing this, quote, a miracle on the Hudson.
11:59I was on pins and needles for four terrifying hours until finally that evening,
12:04still in the hospital being evaluated, I got the word that it was official.
12:07Everyone was accounted for.
12:08Everyone was safe. And only then could I feel the weight of the universe being lifted off my heart.
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12:30The Apollo 13 Rescue Mission
12:33By the end of the 1960s, the Apollo program had already landed on the moon twice.
12:38As such, Apollo 13 likely wouldn't have been met with much fanfare were it a successful mission.
12:44We had a big problem on our hands.
12:48It was life-threatening.
12:52It was not about landing on the moon in the right place. It was about survival.
12:56Its place in the history books would be forever
12:59changed when an oxygen tank exploded in the service module.
13:03Aboarding the mission, crew members James Lovell,
13:06John Swigert, and Fred Hayes set a course for home with assistance from Houston.
13:11Here in Mission Control, we're now looking towards an alternate mission,
13:16swinging around the moon and using the lunar module power systems.
13:22Oxygen was limited, as was power and essential resources.
13:26Even if the three astronauts made it back to Earth's orbit,
13:28there was still the matter of pulling off re-entry.
13:32With millions watching, the crew made a splashdown in the South Pacific,
13:36capping off what Lovell described as a successful failure.
13:39The exploration of space has been hazardous adventure. The voyage of Apollo 13 dramatized
13:46its risks. The men of Apollo 13, by their poise and skill, under the most intense kind of pressure,
13:55epitomized the character that accepts danger and surmounts it.
14:01Do you have any other unbelievable survival stories? Let us know in the comments.
14:24you