The Who Concert Disaster (1979)
The Who Concert Disaster occurred on December 3,1979, outside the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, where 11 people were killed in a crowd crush before a concert by The Who.
Common Sense failures were central to the tragedy.
* Festival seating chaos: The venue used first-come-first-served seating, encouraging thousands of fans to rush the limited entrances at once, an obvious setup for crowd surges.
* Too few open doors: Only a small number of entry points were opened while large crowds waited outside, creating dangerous bottlenecks.
* Poor communication: Many in the crowd believed the concert had already started (due to a soundcheck), increasing urgency and pushing.
* Lack of crowd control planning: There were insufficient barriers, staff, and police coordination to manage the size and behavior of the crowd.
Delayed response: Authorities did not immediately recognize the severity of the crush, slowing lifesaving intervention.
In essence, predictable human behavior, excitement, urgency, and crowd momentum, was ignored. Basic precautions like staggeered entry, assigned seating, clearer communiication, and adequate staffing could likely have prevented the disaster.
NO COMMON SENSE
ANALYZE THE EXAMPLE
* Which supports and barriers were in play?
* What were the dynamics?
* Who, or what, won the Tug-of-War?
* Discuss the outcome with your friends and family.
* Use Post #4 as a reference for the relationships and dynamics between supports and barriers.
