Launch Pad Suffers 'Severe Damage' During Liftoff
"A 100-foot-by-20-foot section of the flame trench -- a concrete and brick structure that deflects the flames from the shuttle's main engines and from the solid rocket boosters -- had been broken up and scattered.
Information about how the damage occurred or if it had any effect on shuttle Discovery was not immediately available.
NASA officials said they would be forming an investigation board to find out how the damage occurred."
http://www.local6.com/technology/16460205/detail.html