If an error is possible, someone will make it

By Dave English

“If an error is possible, someone will make it. The designer must assume that all possible errors will occur and design so as to minimize the chance of the error in the first place, or its effects once it gets made. Errors should be easy to detect, they should have minimal consequences, and, if possible, their effects should be reversible.”

Donald A. Norman, The Psychology of Everyday Things, 1988.

fire-button

Pilot error in many cases can also be described as design error. As pilots, not designers, we should be aware of cockpit actions that are NOT easy to detect, do NOT have minimal consequences, or are NOT reversible. Such things require our special attention.

In the airbus cockpit these kind of switches have red boxes around them. At my airline we have six ‘irreversible items’ that require positive confirmation from the other pilot before you flip the switch. The old advice of ‘if it’s red or dusty’ think carefully before flipping the switch is good here. After a bad landing, don’t confuse me saying ‘cheer up’ with ‘gear up’!

Fly away!

By Dave English

It’s fun to watch or read about special hurricane reconnaissance aircraft. But let’s not forget: The rest of us just get out of the way.

ERAU fleetRadar composite pic is the ERAU fleet fleeing Florida for safer pastures.

Why would a ship sail into a hurricane?

By Dave English

This time last year the American ship SS El Faro went down in a hurricane with the loss of all thirty-three crew (Wikipedia page). It seems impossible ‘in this day and age’ that such a thing could happen. It wasn’t a mechanical issue, or a rogue crew, or pirates, or a freak storm. The Washington Post reported one of the deck officers voiced concern prior to sailing, emailing friends and family, “there is a hurricane out here and we are heading straight into it.”

Yankee magazine has published a deep read that is worth the time for any pilot to read: A Fatal Mistake | The Sinking of El Faro, by Rachel Slade.

El Faro
El Faro file picture

Airmanship and seamanship share meaningful connections. Look at some of these quotes I’ve pulled from the article:

“Even with all our technology, predicting the weather is still very much an art form”

“Many mariners speak wistfully of the peace they find on board, where they are temporarily cut off from the noise of the world.”

el-faro-underwater
El Faro deep underwater

“Technology may have transformed the industry, but the captain still sets the culture aboard ship, just as he did in the 19th century.”

“At sea, knowledge can be the difference between life and death.”

Safely operating through hurricanes (or flying around thunderstorms) comes with an element of danger. The safest thing is too always stay in port. But at some time we must leave. And when we do, we must engage the weather, the ship and the crew. This is the art of seamanship, or airmanship.