5 ms·

Actually, despite air travel being so safe, the primary cause of fatal airplane crashes is pilot error[1]. And I see no proof in those instances that the pilot

by greedo 11y ago

Actually, despite air travel being so safe, the primary cause of fatal airplane crashes is pilot error[1]. And I see no proof in those instances that the pilot isn't being blamed. 1.http://www.planecrashinfo.com/cause.htm http://www.planecrashinfo.com/cause.htm EDITED to add "fatal."

jandrese 11y ago
The pilot is deemed at fault, but he usually isn't fired or heavily fined for the accident unless it was a flagrant violation (like he was trying to join the 410 club and core locked the engines). The passengers don't sue the pilots.
- greedo 11y ago
  Well, I was referring primarily (and in the referenced link) to fatal accidents. Usually it's a bit harsh to punish one of the most likely fatalities.
  - dragonwriter 11y ago
    > Well, I was referring primarily (and in the referenced link) to fatal accidents. Usually it's a bit harsh to punish one of the most likely fatalities. Aside from being harsh, its usually also, you know, impossible.
- madeofpalk 11y ago
  > but he usually isn't fired or heavily fined for the accident unless it was a flagrant violation > passengers don't sue the pilots. Well, a lot of the times they're all dead.
  - ptaipale 11y ago
    In fact, passengers are "all dead" in far fewer plane accidents than people tend to think (even if there are fatalities or injuries). However, it looks like families are more eager to sue than actual victims...
MertsA 11y ago
Just because the pilot is identified as the cause does not mean that anyone is blaming the pilot for being negligent. If a pilot sneezed while landing he's still the cause but that certainly doesn't make him negligent just because he made a mistake. Aviation (and computer science for that matter) is built around mitigating faults and mistakes at every level, that's the biggest part of why air travel is so safe is that it's designed around failure being acceptable. There are contingencies for anything that can foreseeably go wrong because in reality nothing is perfect, and certainly not the pilots. We need to be treating doctors how we treat pilots.
- greedo 11y ago
  I think that the acceptance of failure in certain domains is a problem of system design. Why shouldn't doctor, pilots, ship's captains, train conductors etc be held accountable (blamed) for mistakes? I don't agree with your statement that air travel is designed around the acceptance of failure meaning that pilots aren't culpable for their mistakes. Watch a NTSB hearing into a pilots failures, and there's plenty of blame assigned when appropriate. Doctors and other medical professionals should be similarly scrutinized and ostracized when they perform poorly.

by greedo 11y ago

jandrese 11y ago

The pilot is deemed at fault, but he usually isn't fired or heavily fined for the accident unless it was a flagrant violation (like he was trying to join the 410 club and core locked the engines). The passengers don't sue the pilots.

greedo 11y ago
Well, I was referring primarily (and in the referenced link) to fatal accidents. Usually it's a bit harsh to punish one of the most likely fatalities.
- dragonwriter 11y ago
  > Well, I was referring primarily (and in the referenced link) to fatal accidents. Usually it's a bit harsh to punish one of the most likely fatalities. Aside from being harsh, its usually also, you know, impossible.
madeofpalk 11y ago
> but he usually isn't fired or heavily fined for the accident unless it was a flagrant violation > passengers don't sue the pilots. Well, a lot of the times they're all dead.
- ptaipale 11y ago
  In fact, passengers are "all dead" in far fewer plane accidents than people tend to think (even if there are fatalities or injuries). However, it looks like families are more eager to sue than actual victims...

MertsA 11y ago

Just because the pilot is identified as the cause does not mean that anyone is blaming the pilot for being negligent. If a pilot sneezed while landing he's still the cause but that certainly doesn't make him negligent just because he made a mistake. Aviation (and computer science for that matter) is built around mitigating faults and mistakes at every level, that's the biggest part of why air travel is so safe is that it's designed around failure being acceptable. There are contingencies for anything that can foreseeably go wrong because in reality nothing is perfect, and certainly not the pilots. We need to be treating doctors how we treat pilots.

greedo 11y ago
I think that the acceptance of failure in certain domains is a problem of system design. Why shouldn't doctor, pilots, ship's captains, train conductors etc be held accountable (blamed) for mistakes? I don't agree with your statement that air travel is designed around the acceptance of failure meaning that pilots aren't culpable for their mistakes. Watch a NTSB hearing into a pilots failures, and there's plenty of blame assigned when appropriate. Doctors and other medical professionals should be similarly scrutinized and ostracized when they perform poorly.