On 8 Feb 2011, at 00:07, Finkleman, Dave wrote:
Addressing all comments at once:
1. I had a similar exchange with Yuri Davydov, then Deputy Director
of
ROSKOSMOS, the Russian Space Agency. His response to operators not
understanding their own operation was, "Get smarter operators!" He is
correct.
I don't know the context, but several generations of air accident
investigations (and, one might say, Chernobyl) say he's wrong. Knife-
edge systems which rely on the correct application of high-grade
skills may suit people with "The Right Stuff", but real-world
engineering has to function when the operators are merely average, or
tired, or distracted. The days when every aircraft accident was put
down to Pilot Error are gone, and systems which are prone to error are
now regarded as deficient compared to those that are more forgiving.
Which saves more lives: encouraging people to learn difficult to
maintain braking techniques that they may or may not be able to apply
in an emergency, or fitting anti-lock brakes?
ian
_______________________________________________
LEAPSECS mailing list
LEAPSECS@leapsecond.com
http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/leapsecs
