Jay – I would like to think that I am an honest aircraft engineer, but my interest in this particular case is more academic than practical – I teach Human Factors, and to me the French investigation is undermining 30 years of HF learning. To be fair, engineers worldwide are not going to give this investigation the time of day, let alone ignore the HF training they are now following, but in the interests of a public discussion, I feel that the worst cae scenario hould be presented here (which is what I did in my previous post). I still feel that the entire focus of the investigation is Air France and the French authorities weaseling away from compensation claims – they can now file counter-claims against continental.
The photo is no more poignant than the DC10 HP compressor section in a field(Sioux City), or a short bolt found in a BAC 1-11 windscreen…
Flight Safety is everyone’s reponsibility. For example, you are at an airport as a passenger – if you see an aircraft with some damage and you say nothing, perhaps you are to blame as much as the mechanic who ‘fixed’ it (he was having a bad day), the engineer who over-signed him (he had a cold), the pilot who accepted it (He was running late), the ATC controller who cleared the aircraft for take-off (he didn’t look at it as it went past)….
There are so many variables in every crash that we cannot affix blame to a single person, and should not allow corporations to do just that.
My personal favourite is this one:
Back in the 1950’s, the factory producing Whirlwind Main rotor shafts had a power cut. The power on the milling machine was off for less than a second, but produced a microscopic stress raiser in the shaft. On completion, it was pased as servicable by three independant people and was eventually fitted to a Whirlwind. This aircraft was delivered to the Queen’s Flight and lasted for several years. After years of use, the crack developed and ended in the shaft shearing and the rotor head separating from the aircraft. Luckilly the crack was picked up on a routine inspection. Now – think of this… what if the crack had developed in flight and the Whirly had crashed whilst carrying Queeny? Would there be an almighty witch hunt to find the culprit? Who would it be:
The pilot who accepted it?
The Mechanic for missing it?
The Engineers who inspected and serviced it?
The factory worker for not scrapping it?
The factory foreman who was accountable for work produced?
The electricity company for allowing a power cut to happen?
The Crown for not funding its own electricity company correctly?
The short of the Concorde incident is this:
It happened, lets make sure it doesn’t happen again.
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