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.
HMCS Coaticook (K410)
In 1948, "Coaticook" was sold for stripping and in 1949, she was sunk as a breakwater at Powell River in British Columbia to replace the floating breakwater that had been installed. In 1961, the hull was refloated in an effort to tow it to Victoria, British Columbia to be broken up. However en route, a storm arose and the hull suffered damage. The damage was considered significant enough to render the hull structurally unstable. The decision was made to scuttle it instead of continuing on to Victoria. Four cases of forcite, a gelatin dynamite, were placed throughout the ship. The ship was sunk near Race Rocks, off Vancouver Island in February 1962. Photos of the resulting explosion were taken and distributed through The Canadian Press.