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This vastly understates the seriousness of problems you can run into. It was just last year that all of Alaska Airlines was grounded [0] because of issues with

This vastly understates the seriousness of problems you can run into. It was just last year that all of Alaska Airlines was grounded [0] because of issues with weight and balance. While those takeoffs resulted in tail scrapes, they could've just as easily lead to running out of runway if the bug had been slightly different [1]. [0] https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/aviation/2023/02/20/after-alaska-airlines-planes-bump-runway-a-scramble-to-pull-the-plug/ https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/aviation/2023/02/20/after-al... [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34898361 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34898361

potato3732842 2y ago
Comments like yours really drive me up the wall. Nobody doubts that a plane needs to be at least somewhat balanced to fly. It also needs fuel. It needs some semblance of a maintenance schedule. It needs many things. Everyone with a brain knows all this. So then what means beyond in-group signaling is served by hand wringing over any one of the dozens of critical links in the chain? The bug you cite, which you would not likely even know about if not for other commenters, was only caught because people asked for an old school manual calculation. Had the software process been more transparent it perhaps could have been caught earlier. The fact that someone failed to properly implement the calculation in software does not change the efficacy of doing the calculation manually. Furthermore, the fact that there were people capable of eyeballing the accuracy of the software outputs seems to back up my point that there are tons of people capable of doing these calculations kicking around.
- Etheryte 2y ago
  The bug was caught because airplanes had tail strikes. It might help to actually read the article you're commenting on, especially with that high horse.
  - potato3732842 2y ago
    Like I said, hand wringing about someone's botched software implementation does not change the fact that this is simple math that tons of people at an airline are qualified to perform and check. This is not rocket surgery. This is something that literally every private pilot with a Cessna does when they encounter a novel loading. Stop making it out to be some super scary thing requiring serious expertise to not screw up.
    - CapcomGo 2y ago
      Why continue to comment without knowing what you're talking about

potato3732842 2y ago

Comments like yours really drive me up the wall. Nobody doubts that a plane needs to be at least somewhat balanced to fly. It also needs fuel. It needs some semblance of a maintenance schedule. It needs many things. Everyone with a brain knows all this. So then what means beyond in-group signaling is served by hand wringing over any one of the dozens of critical links in the chain? The bug you cite, which you would not likely even know about if not for other commenters, was only caught because people asked for an old school manual calculation. Had the software process been more transparent it perhaps could have been caught earlier. The fact that someone failed to properly implement the calculation in software does not change the efficacy of doing the calculation manually. Furthermore, the fact that there were people capable of eyeballing the accuracy of the software outputs seems to back up my point that there are tons of people capable of doing these calculations kicking around.

Etheryte 2y ago
The bug was caught because airplanes had tail strikes. It might help to actually read the article you're commenting on, especially with that high horse.
- potato3732842 2y ago
  Like I said, hand wringing about someone's botched software implementation does not change the fact that this is simple math that tons of people at an airline are qualified to perform and check. This is not rocket surgery. This is something that literally every private pilot with a Cessna does when they encounter a novel loading. Stop making it out to be some super scary thing requiring serious expertise to not screw up.
  - CapcomGo 2y ago
    Why continue to comment without knowing what you're talking about