4 ms·

Honestly, if I were interviewing the guy, that would almost be a bonus! Like, everyone makes mistakes, we're all human, but I can guarantee you that THAT person

by OskarS 10y ago

Honestly, if I were interviewing the guy, that would almost be a bonus! Like, everyone makes mistakes, we're all human, but I can guarantee you that THAT person will never make that particular mistake ever again. And he's going to be 10 times more diligent than the average engineer in making sure there are good backup/restore procedures.

blowski 10y ago
There's a probably apocryphal story like this about a guy forgetting to refuel a plane. The pilot made sure that guy was solely responsible for refuelling his plane in future, because he knew he'd never forget again.
- erichocean 10y ago
  I think that might have been in Chuck Yeager's (auto-?) biography. (Great read, BTW.)
  - Crisco 10y ago
    I remember reading the story in "How to Win Friends and Influence People". The plane was filled with jet fuel and had to do an emergency landing, but the pilot was able to save everyone. When he got back he told the mechanic that he wanted him to fill his plane the next day because he knew that he'd never make the same mistake again. If the pilot can forgive someone for a mistake that almost cost lives, I'm sure any good interviewer can forgive him for a mistake that cost data and will probably never be repeated.
- songzme 10y ago
  I've heard this anecdote before and it never sat well with me. Forgetting to fuel a plane as a plane mechanic exposes a serious character flaw that could lead to something devastating if allowed to continue (perhaps next time he forgets to oil the engine? Grease the brakes?). Sensationalizing this story could actually do alot of harm. The plane mechanic should have been fired for failing such an important task. If he showed incredible remorse and was responsible enough to own up to his mistakes, he should still have been striped of all his other responsibilities and only fuel planes until he has proven himself enough to take on more responsibilities again.
  - sgift 10y ago
    When people are afraid to loose their jobs if they make an error you can be pretty sure they will do everything in their power to hide the fact that they made an error, which is the exact opposite of the behavior you want. To allow process improvements it must be absolutely clear that errors will not be punished, but used to help everyone to learn.
    - sten 10y ago
      It must be coupled with processes that guard against errors though. Defense in depth. I'd imagine the pilot has a tick sheet to go over before takeoff and fuel is an item on that sheet.
      - danaliv 10y ago
        You imagine right. It's on every checklist: check fuel quantity and type.
    - neurotech1 10y ago
      The JAL 2 mishap is legendary in the aviation world. Learning from mistakes is a big part of aviation safety https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Airlines_Flight_2#The_.22Asoh_defense.22 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Airlines_Flight_2#The_.2... The Captain basically got up before the NTSB and when asked what happened, he responded "I F__ked Up!" instead of trying to deflect blame onto an unforeseen system glitch or other excuse. Its since been known as the "Asoh Defense" They also have the NASA ASRS for reporting near misses, and incidents without fear of FAA enforcement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_Safety_Reporting_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_Safety_Reporting_Syst...
  - felideon 10y ago
    Agreed. Point in case, the recent death of nearly the entire Chapecoense football team: > According to the preliminary report, several decisions of the flight crew were incompatible with aviation regulations and rendered the flight unsafe. Insufficient flight planning (disregarding necessary fuel stops) and not declaring an emergency when the fuel neared exhaustion caused the crash. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaMia_Flight_2933 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaMia_Flight_2933
- Tephlon 10y ago
  Exactly. I run backups on my computer before installing new software/fiddling with important settings/etc. because I've fucked up before. I'll run backups of phones (or at least verify that they are present) before trying to fix issues on them after nuking my mom's phone which resulted in her losing pictures of my niece and nephew. (Luckily she had sent a lot of those pictures to us via e-mail, but still). We learn and adjust.

by OskarS 10y ago

blowski 10y ago

There's a probably apocryphal story like this about a guy forgetting to refuel a plane. The pilot made sure that guy was solely responsible for refuelling his plane in future, because he knew he'd never forget again.

erichocean 10y ago
I think that might have been in Chuck Yeager's (auto-?) biography. (Great read, BTW.)
- Crisco 10y ago
  I remember reading the story in "How to Win Friends and Influence People". The plane was filled with jet fuel and had to do an emergency landing, but the pilot was able to save everyone. When he got back he told the mechanic that he wanted him to fill his plane the next day because he knew that he'd never make the same mistake again. If the pilot can forgive someone for a mistake that almost cost lives, I'm sure any good interviewer can forgive him for a mistake that cost data and will probably never be repeated.
songzme 10y ago
I've heard this anecdote before and it never sat well with me. Forgetting to fuel a plane as a plane mechanic exposes a serious character flaw that could lead to something devastating if allowed to continue (perhaps next time he forgets to oil the engine? Grease the brakes?). Sensationalizing this story could actually do alot of harm. The plane mechanic should have been fired for failing such an important task. If he showed incredible remorse and was responsible enough to own up to his mistakes, he should still have been striped of all his other responsibilities and only fuel planes until he has proven himself enough to take on more responsibilities again.
- sgift 10y ago
  When people are afraid to loose their jobs if they make an error you can be pretty sure they will do everything in their power to hide the fact that they made an error, which is the exact opposite of the behavior you want. To allow process improvements it must be absolutely clear that errors will not be punished, but used to help everyone to learn.
  - sten 10y ago
    It must be coupled with processes that guard against errors though. Defense in depth. I'd imagine the pilot has a tick sheet to go over before takeoff and fuel is an item on that sheet.
    - danaliv 10y ago
      You imagine right. It's on every checklist: check fuel quantity and type.
  - neurotech1 10y ago
    The JAL 2 mishap is legendary in the aviation world. Learning from mistakes is a big part of aviation safety https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Airlines_Flight_2#The_.22Asoh_defense.22 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Airlines_Flight_2#The_.2... The Captain basically got up before the NTSB and when asked what happened, he responded "I F__ked Up!" instead of trying to deflect blame onto an unforeseen system glitch or other excuse. Its since been known as the "Asoh Defense" They also have the NASA ASRS for reporting near misses, and incidents without fear of FAA enforcement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_Safety_Reporting_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_Safety_Reporting_Syst...
- felideon 10y ago
  Agreed. Point in case, the recent death of nearly the entire Chapecoense football team: > According to the preliminary report, several decisions of the flight crew were incompatible with aviation regulations and rendered the flight unsafe. Insufficient flight planning (disregarding necessary fuel stops) and not declaring an emergency when the fuel neared exhaustion caused the crash. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaMia_Flight_2933 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaMia_Flight_2933
Tephlon 10y ago
Exactly. I run backups on my computer before installing new software/fiddling with important settings/etc. because I've fucked up before. I'll run backups of phones (or at least verify that they are present) before trying to fix issues on them after nuking my mom's phone which resulted in her losing pictures of my niece and nephew. (Luckily she had sent a lot of those pictures to us via e-mail, but still). We learn and adjust.