TAMU 1999 Bonfire Disaster - a management tale on why proactive risk management matters
Texas A&M - or "Aggieland" - is a rather well-known US university with a (military-style pre-) "school of cadets". It's home of the George Bush Presidential Library, very close to the Bush's family ranch and a somewhat peculiar place. I spent quite some time in and around campus in '93-'96.
Texas A&M is well-known for its football team, its inherent despise for the Univerity of Texas (at Austin) and the "team spirit" of its students and honored traditions.
Up to 1999 one of the key traditions was the annual Bonfire - which developed into a major three-story construction. - I always had the feeling that more wood was burned in that fire, than was used as paper at that place.

In 1999, the bonfire collapsed killing several people. The university was pressured to launch an in-depth investigation, which came up with quite shocking findings.

See: http://www.tamu.edu/bonfire-commission/reports/

I think this is a really good story that demonstrates just how important a pro-active risk management is.

Some quotes from the final report:
Lack of a written Bonfire design or construction methodology is in the Commission’s view both an important barrier failure and very relevant to the collapse. This deficiency has resulted in multiple design changes year-to-year, no established process for design reviews, and no documentation of critical design factors. This was clearly evidenced in interviews with University officials and students. On numerous occasions, interviewees described a world in which design decisions were made with no written guidance, no formal reviews, and no knowledge of critical design factors.
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