Space Shuttle thermal protection system
On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle "Columbia" was destroyed on reentry due to a failure of the TPS. The investigation team found and reported that the probable cause of the accident was that during launch, a piece of foam debris punctured an RCC panel on the left wing's leading edge and allowed hot gases from the reentry to enter the wing and disintegrate the wing from within, leading to eventual loss of control and breakup of the shuttle.
Shipwrecks of the inland Columbia River
"J.N. Teal" burned at Portland on October 22, 1907. "Helen Hale" burned in 1913 somewhere on the Upper Reach. "Idaho", which had sunk "Boneta" in 1905, herself burned at Blackrock Bay in Lake Coeur d'Alene in 1915. Other boats destroyed by fire were "R.C. Young", at Dove's Landing July 22, 1892 and "Regulator", burned on ways at St. Johns, January 24, 1906. Fire was so common a cause of destruction that in some cases little information is available as to the cause, date, or place, such as "Messenger" in 1879, "Mascot" in 1911, and "Saint Paul", burned somewhere on the Columbia in 1915. Not every fire which destroyed a steamboat was ignited on the boat itself. Thus "James Clinton" was destroyed at Oregon City on April 23, 1861, after being ignited by sparks from burning buildings across the river.