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Indeed. One of the really core things you learn when you dig deeper into aviation is that essentially every major disaster is a chained combination of multiple
by CPLX 6y ago
Indeed. One of the really core things you learn when you dig deeper into aviation is that essentially every major disaster is a chained combination of multiple extremely unlikely failures in sequence. Which is a testament to both the incredible success this approach has had, as well as the impossibility of perfection.
- Gare 6y agoSo called "Swiss cheese model": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_cheese_model https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_cheese_model
- alpaca128 6y agoI once saw a detailed breakdown of a well-known Concorde crash and it's staggering how many coincidences came together to mess up those people's day. Iirc a spare part for another plane was faulty, fell off onto the runway, the Concorde's wheels hit it and exploded due to the strain, one of the rubber chunks hit the fuel tanks causing a leak and another shredded some live wires, leading to ignition of the leaking fuel.
- andi999 6y agoIsn't almost everything the fuel tank? So I would say these events are not all independent.
- GuB-42 6y agoIt wasn't the first time the Concorde had exploded tires. There already was several "close calls". The last one was for real, with the power of hindsight, they should have addressed the problem long before the deadly crash. For me, the best illustration is the Tenerife airport disaster, the deadliest accident in the history of aviation. Two Boeing 747 crashing into each other on the runway during takeoff. Circumstances included fog, problems in the control tower, nonstandard phraseology, radio interference and overworked personnel.