
The Normalization of Deviance - rdl
http://www.rapp.org/archives/2015/12/normalization-of-deviance/
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lwhalen
I'm speaking from complete ignorance here, but why couldn't the airline
industry standardize a bit more? It seems that a pilot has to have special
high-intensity training on each individual aircraft model, whereas I can jump
in pretty much any car from here to Hong Kong and be able to control the
machine safely after a ~60 second glance at the dash and steering column. Yes,
I understand that adding that extra third-dimension of travel (up and down, in
addition to forward-back and left-right) adds complexity, but I have a hard
time believing that a standardized control interface for aircraft of X-class
engine size wouldn't increase safety.

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throwaway_xx9
First, airliners have complex systems that need to be understood in detail
since you can't just pull over at the side of the road like in a car.

Second, newer families of airliners by Airbus and Boeing do have similar
systems and often a type rating covers 2 or 3 models now.

Third, each operator has their own standards and practices. In fact, airline
operator standards are considered to be more pertinent than general FAA or
mfg. requirements.

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nier
Quote from the original accident report:

"Further, a review [...] revealed that the flight crewmembers had neglected to
perform complete flight control checks before 98% of their previous 175
takeoffs in the airplane, indicating that this oversight was habitual and not
an anomaly."

Sounds like an opportunity for automated robotic testing.

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earljwagner
This also shows up on the part of airplane passengers. How many people listen
to the safety instructions, well, as is their lives depended on it?

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vonklaus
Well, to qoute fight club, it is simply the illusion of safety at 30000 feet.
In reality, and as this articld recounts, the pilots control the plane and an
eggregious piloting error will not ve corrected regardless of whether I am
aware that my seat cushion is bouyant, or that I should secure my own
oxygenmask before helping others.

Also, I would suspect that given the element of fear and urgency in a crisis,
this information no matter how valuable, will be ignored by everyobe except a
mibority of overtly obedient passengers and the most measured individuals.

Tl;dr Malaysian Airlines didn't have a 100% mortality rate because no one
payed attention to the onboarding safety demo.

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earljwagner
An additional factor is the low probability of negative consequences.

