Analysis Of The Hyatt Regency Hotel

July 17, 1981, in Kansas City, Missouri, the Hyatt Regency Hotel held a tea-dance party in their atrium lobby. As the many party-goers stood and danced on the suspended walkways, the connections supporting the ceiling rods that held up the second-floor and fourth-floor walkways across the atrium failed. The fourth-floor walkway collapsed onto the second-floor walkway, while the offset third-floor walkway remained intact. Both walkways collapsed onto the crowded first-floor atrium.
During the time of the disaster, at least 1,600 people gathered for the tea dance. On 7 pm, the second-level walkway had about 40 people. The third-level walkway held about 16 people while the fourth-level walkway held about 20 people. The connections under the walkways failed, and the fourth-floor and second-floor bridges collapsed to the atrium's floor. Piles of steel, concrete, and glass covered many bodies. Huge amounts of airborne dust severely limited the rescue teams’ visibility. Upon seeing the horrible tragedy, the rescue teams compared the scene to a war zone.
The rescue teams, which included the Fire Brigade, EMS units and doctors from five local hospitals, rushed at the scene and a 14-hour
Compensation claims from the victims awarded them around 140 million dollars aside from insurance pay-outs. The case serves as an excellent example of the importance of meeting professional responsibilities, and what the consequences are for professionals who fail to. The Hyatt Regency Hotel has since went through many renovations and restorations. After the tragedy, a single walkway was reinstalled except this time supported by columns. Aside from the third floor now left without a connecting walkway, the lobby retained its original design. Nowadays, the Hyatt Regency Hotel is now known as the Sheraton at Crown