(no subject)

[watertank]

Freakanomics blog on air travel safety:

"One accident per 1.5 million flights! That’s the equivalent of you and 100 of your friends taking one flight every day of the year for 40 years straight. For something as complicated as flying, this is a monumentally low fail rate. Furthermore, as USA Today summarized, the key factors in the accidents were “bad weather, miscommunication and lapses in crew training.” But not, notably, equipment failure or aeronautical miscalculation."

Humans can build highly reliable systems. And it took us only a hundred years to figure it out. Quite amazing. Also of note, the high price of failure. What are other industries that have similar risk profiles?

A good example of an invention-innovation-routine transition.

Comments

[cema.livejournal.com]

Somewhat less than a hundred, really.

And yet. My dad has been working in the aircraft industry for about 65 years now, and he says he is still amazed these things are actually flying.

[watertank.livejournal.com]

If I am not mistaken, the Wright brothers made their first flight in 1903.

Modern aircrafts, especially jets, are completely counterintuitive. I wish I could invent something like that.

[dmpogo.livejournal.com]

Time to change the intuition !

[watertank.livejournal.com]

Working on it :)