Top Ten Most Horrific Things Broadcast on Live TV
These are some of the most shockingly horrific moments to be broadcasted on live TV. A lot of these events have mentally scarred the people who were watching.
On September 11, 2001, Muslim extremists used four commercial airliners to commit an attack on America. A total of 19 members from the terrorist group al-Qaeda hijacked and crashed two of the four planes into the World Trade Center (one into each tower), one into the Pentagon, and one ended up crashing in a field in Pennsylvania due to the passengers fighting back.
The World Trade Center towers collapsed due to the fires weakening the steel support framing of the buildings. WTC 7 also collapsed. The Pentagon was struck on the west-facing side of its building, causing a partial collapse. A total of 2,996 people were killed and over 6,000 injured. It was the worst terror attack to ever occur on American soil. The whole event was tragic, but seeing the people jump from the buildings to avoid burning to death was one of the worst things I've ever seen.
Not too many people are familiar with this one, but my friends and I watched this live as it happened. On April 30, 1998, a man, along with his dog, stopped his pickup truck on the top level of a freeway transition ramp. Police closed the freeway ramp and attempted to communicate with the man as he sat in his truck. By this time, multiple local news helicopters were broadcasting live from the scene.
After a while, the man emerged from his truck. He went to the bed of his pickup truck, grabbed a homemade banner, and laid it out on the freeway ramp for the helicopters to see. It read, "HMO's Are In It For The Money. Live Free, Love Safe or Die!" (It turns out the man had AIDS and cancer). After laying out the banner, he looked at the helicopters, stuck his butt out at them, and slapped it, which seemed to convey a "kiss my ass" message.
While he was getting the banner from the bed of his truck, news crews noticed a shotgun laying there. He then got back in his truck and lit a cigarette. This is when all hell broke loose. It turns out he had Molotov cocktail bombs inside the cab of his truck. As he was smoking, the fumes from the gasoline ignited. The man quickly jumped out of the cab on fire and extinguished himself by slapping out the flames and stripping off his clothes. He ended up being naked from the waist down.
Unfortunately, the dog was still inside the truck, which was on fire. You could see the dog on fire running in a tight circle inside the cab through the windshield. The man then fell to his knees and started crying. I'm almost positive he did not mean to set the truck or his dog on fire. He seemed devastated that his dog was burning alive.
He then got up, ran to the edge of the freeway bridge/ramp, and appeared to get ready to jump to his death. Apparently, he changed his mind and ran to the bed of his truck, where he grabbed the shotgun, which burned his hands (the metal was hot from sitting in the sun). He jumped, quickly... more
The worst natural disaster ever broadcast live on TV occurred in Japan on March 11, 2011. It was caused by a 9.0 earthquake (the most powerful ever recorded in Japan) offshore. The tsunami wave reached up to 133 ft in one area (Miyako).
From the quake and tsunami combined, 15,896 people were killed, 6,156 were injured, and 2,537 are still missing. Over 1 million buildings collapsed or were damaged. The tsunami and earthquake also triggered the Fukushima disaster (a level 7 meltdown), which remains a concern to this day.
I heard of this event, and there was even a clip of it on YouTube in a video about live TV events. She pulled out a gun (now of course it didn't show the shooting), but I was just frightened to see it happen. I actually collapsed out of my seat. I was shivering and suddenly became very afraid, as if something like that were going to happen to me. So, I closed my computer and ran to my family in the living room.
I later discovered she asked the people running the show to do the live show for no particular reason, and the whole event just ended in disaster and confusion.
Also known as the Munich Massacre. At the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany, Palestinian terrorists known as Black September took Israeli Olympians hostage. The terrorist group sneaked into an apartment complex that was housing Olympic athletes. There is a claim that they were helped by some Canadians (some say Americans). Either way, the people who helped the terrorists sneak in didn't know about their plot.
The terrorists entered the Israelis' rooms while they were asleep. The Israelis fought back (pretty badass). One even knocked out one of the terrorists before being shot to death. During the struggle, some Israelis managed to escape. The terrorists ended up with nine hostages. Their main demand was the release of 234 Palestinians jailed in Israel.
By this time, international news channels surrounded the apartments and were filming live. During the live broadcast, the terrorists could be seen going to the balconies with their hostages. At one point, a hostage was hit on the head with the butt of a terrorist's AK-47. After a failed ambush by the German police and failed negotiations, the authorities provided helicopters for the terrorists, who still had the hostages.
As they made their way to the airport, a shootout began. Sensing the mission was going to fail, one of the terrorists turned around and shot the Israeli hostages point-blank with an assault rifle. He also tossed a grenade into the helicopter as he got out. Another shootout occurred, and the terrorists were either killed or captured. In total, 17 people were killed: 11 Israelis, 1 German police officer, and 5 Black September members. Three terrorists were wounded and captured.
On April 29, 1992, the city of Los Angeles and its surrounding area erupted in a six-day riot. A lot of the chaos was captured by news helicopters and broadcast live over those six days. A total of 63 deaths, 2,383 injuries, and around 12,000 arrests resulted from the riot. For a more detailed description and information on the L.A. Riots, see my list titled "Ten Worst Tragedies or Catastrophes to Occur in California" if interested.
The Republican member of the Pennsylvania State Senate committed suicide at a press conference he called on January 22, 1987. Many believed he called the press conference to announce his resignation due to his conviction in 1986 for accepting bribes. He was scheduled to be sentenced the next day, January 23, 1987. He was facing 55 years in prison and fines over $300,000.
At the press conference, he gave a statement in which he claimed his innocence (though later investigations revealed he was guilty). He ended his statement with, "Please leave immediately if you have a weak stomach or mind since I don't want to cause physical or mental distress. I love you. Thank you for making my life so happy. Goodbye to you all on the count of three. Please make sure the sacrifice of my life is not in vain."
He then pulled a .357 revolver out of a manila envelope. He pointed the pistol in the air and asked, "Please, please leave the room if this will, if this will affect you." As some approached Dwyer to defuse the situation, he threatened them by saying, "Don't, don't, don't... this will really hurt somebody." He then quickly put the barrel in his mouth and shot himself. He collapsed to the floor, eyes open, with blood pouring out of his nose and the exit wound in the back of his head. He died instantly.
Note - This was broadcast unedited on live TV about an hour after it happened, not as it happened.
On August 23, 2010, a former Philippine National Police officer named Rolando Mendoza hijacked a bus carrying 25 people, 20 of whom were tourists from Hong Kong. The disgruntled former officer claimed he was wrongly and unjustly fired from his job and used the hostages as a bargaining tool to demand a fair hearing to defend himself.
Negotiations, which were televised, fell apart after police told Mendoza they had arrested his brother. News of his brother's arrest infuriated Mendoza, prompting him to immediately open fire on the hostages. What followed was a 90-minute televised shootout, which ended with Mendoza and eight of the hostages being killed. Many more were injured.
The Newcomers
On November 24, 1963, suspected Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was shot in the basement of the Dallas police headquarters by Jack Ruby while being escorted to an armored vehicle to be transported to the city jail.
Yeah, the ITV broadcast went way too far.
And we still didn't find the person who did this?
The creepiest TV hack in history.
Here in Southern California, we have televised high-speed, sometimes slow-speed, car chases about twice a week. I hate seeing these idiots crash into innocent people. There are so many instances of this out here.
I'll use the latest one. On June 13, 2018, police were in pursuit of a stolen U-Haul pickup truck. About an hour in, the driver pulled off the freeway, got out of the truck, and shot himself in the head on live TV. I'll be real here. I'd rather it end like that than have him crash into and kill or injure an innocent person.
