I did almost the exact same thing once.
AS/400's have the ability to Passthrough to another system I think it was called so you are logged onto a console but can bring up a console for another system. I, thinking I was in the training/test server did the same thing for a VERY large manufacturer here in Canada and shut down the plant.
I was the Infrastructure & Operations Manager at the time and there was no IT VP so I was temporarily reporting to the president who took it all in stride, ran interferance for me and averted some angry plant managers. I learned a lot about management that day and what real leaders do in a crisis.
To this day I use it as an example of "I need the truth to be able to do my job, almost any mistake is excusable once as long as I know the truth".
Biting the hand that feeds IT
