Kennedy Space Center
On February 1, 2003, "Columbia" and her crew of seven were lost during re-entry over Texas during the STS-107 mission (the 113th shuttle flight); a vehicle breakup triggered by damage sustained during launch from Pad 39A on January 16, when a piece of foam insulation from the orbiter's external fuel tank struck the orbiter's left wing. During reentry, the damage created a hole allowing hot gases to melt the wing structure. Like the "Challenger" disaster, the resulting investigation and modifications interrupted shuttle flight operations at KSC for more than two years until the STS-114 launch on July 26, 2005.
SS Columbia Eagle incident
McKay escaped from his captors along with U.S. Army deserter Larry Humphrey and sought out the Khmer Rouge. He was officially declared missing on 4 November 1970 and has never been located by the authorities. However, Richard Linnett and Roberto Loiederman, co-authors of "The Eagle Mutiny", wrote an article, entitled "The Last Mutineer", for the February 2005 issue of "Penthouse" in which they report that remains brought back from Cambodia were positively identified as Clyde McKay's at the Central Identification Laboratory - Hawaii (CILHI), the U.S. Navy's forensic lab in Hawaii. Subsequently, the remains were cremated and the ashes were buried in the family plot in Hemet, California, where McKay had spent his youth.