I have witnessed this in person twice (both times in 2013) and thankfully nobody was hurt either time. But they probably could have been.
In one case, the problem was a student over-tightening a fitting to the plastic threads. In another case, we believe that Loctite was used on the fitting threads.
Last year I proposed a mandatory sleeve in
this post. I think it would be a cheap, easy, and effective harm reduction measure (though it would certainly need to be well-tested)...and it would let teams color their air tanks however they see fit
