Warp core breach A warp core breach was a catastrophic failure of a starship ' s warp core . Description . A breach could occur in a variety of ways , but was frequently characterized by a coolant leak from the main reaction chamber , resulting in a runaway reaction within the warp core . Antimatter containment was lost , and the resultant contact between antimatter and the normal matter of the ship destroyed the vessel . Consequences and prevention . The breach was almost always irreversible , as most safety protocols and systems would have failed prior to the event . Warp core ejection was a common method of dealing with a breach , although this was considered a last ditch effort and often failed aboard . The evacuation of the crew to the primary hull and initiating separation was also used in cases where the vessel had that capability , such as on " Galaxy " - class vessels . In situations where a saucer separation could not be initiated , then evacuation of the ship via escape pod s or shuttle s would occur . Regardless , the aim was to get as much distance between the core and the crew as possible before detonation . In the case of saucer separation ( or warp core ejection ) , the ship was left running on impulse power and batteries , as the warp core and warp nacelle s were required for warp drive . Occurrences . In 2267 , Khan Noonien Singh tried to blow up the starship by overloading the warp core when he failed to capture it . James T . Kirk stopped him and the overload in time . ( ) In 2368 , Commander Riker remembered a containment breach situation in main engineering due to a telepathic memory invasion by the Ullian Jev . Ensign Keller died during this event . ( ) In 2368 , the collided with the after encountering a space - time distortion in the Typhon Expanse , causing a warp core breach which destroyed the ship . The explosion led to the creation of a temporal causality loop , from which the " Enterprise " was able to avoid the collision before it happened . ( ) In 2369 , the " Enterprise " - D was destroyed by a warp core breach , generated by a massive energy feedback into the warp core from a power transfer to a Romulan vessel . The core breach was averted when time reset itself and Captain Picard remotely steered a runabout into the transfer beam . ( ) In 2371 , the engineering hull of the " Enterprise " - D was destroyed in a warp core breach following rupture of the magnetic interlock s due to an attack by a D12 - class Bird - of - Prey . The shock wave created by the explosion caused the vessel ' s saucer section to crash - land on Veridian III . All hands survived , but the vessel was a total loss . ( ) In early 2372 , as a result of a subspace inversion of the Bajoran wormhole , the was under threat of a core breach , with the ejection system disabled . Benjamin Sisko was able to shunt the excess power over to the deflector array with the help of an interphasic compensator , averting the breach . ( ) In 2374 during a test of the Borg transwarp drive aboard the , tachyon s got into the warp core and almost caused a warp core breach . B ' Elanna Torres was able to eject the warp core and evacuate engineering . ( ) Risk factors . Nucleonic particle s from a polaric field flooded the intake manifold s of in 2153 , causing an injector flare that could have caused a warp core breach . sustained life - threatening injuries during a manual shutdown of the reactor to prevent the breach . ( ) Antineutrino s tended to have a neutralizing effect on warp core containment fields of Federation starships . A Sikarian spatial trajector field , utilizing antineutrinos , nearly caused a warp core breach on the . ( ) One of the USS " Voyager " s shuttlecraft , the " " , was destroyed by a warp core breach in 2374 . Its occupants , B ' Elanna Torres and Tom Paris , had to don environmental suit s and beam into open space to await rescue . ( ) The reaction of veridium isotope s with warp plasma would cause a warp core breach . This led to the near destruction of the " Delta Flyer II " in 2377 , although the warp core was successfully ejected into a class J nebula before the explosion could destroy the vessel . ( ) If a large number of tachyon s leaked into a warp core , a warp core breach was almost certain to occur , as a result of the tachyons creating a resonance frequency causing the core pressure to increase out of control . ( ) Deliberate initiations . Warp core breaches were occasionally performed deliberately ; they were most often used as the primary means of fulfilling a starship ' s auto - destruct sequence . Q purposefully caused the core aboard the " Enterprise " - D to breach in 2369 ( so that , if he was right and she " was " in fact a , Amanda Rogers could prevent it ) , and Geordi La Forge caused a breach of the ' s warp core in 2375 to seal a subspace tear caused by an isolytic burst ( the core having been ejected from the ship prior to detonation ) . ( ; ) " In 2258 of Nero ' s alternate reality , ejected and detonated the warp core " s " of that timeline ' s and the resultant explosion pushed the ship free of the black hole consuming the " Narada " . " ( ) To demonstrate the damaging effects warp drive were having on subspace , Serova took her ship out into the Hekaras Corridor and intentionally overloaded her warp engines , causing a core breach that killed her and destroyed her ship . The resultant burst of warp energy proved her theory by creating a subspace rift . ( ) Farrakk was killed by a warp core breach when Hagath had his ship sabotage d in 2373 . ( )