Someone just point out this old aviation accident to me. Basically a big 767 running dry in the skies of Canada. The pilot, being an experienced glider manages to land the plane and save all on board.

So why worry about the happy ending?
The chain of mistakes which caused the airplane to load less fuel is something out of the horror books - a comedy of small misssteps and misunderstanding which cumulatively amounted to a major and potentially fatal/catastrophic error.

That was 25 years ago - before corporation craziness and deregulation reached today's extremes. Makes me cringe and wonder

The whole story is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

Paul

If you are interested in reading about such incidents, you may be interested in the Risks Digest which catalogues incidents from many industries. They also host the safety-critical systems club should your interest be more technical.

dave

I especially like the bit about the vehicle carrying the mechanics running out of fuel en route... Classic!

I'm "interested"...hehe... nice one.
No, it's just that for some reason this particular incident incites a series of thoughts - some have to do with real-life experiences in a totally different context.

And the manner in which the "quality chain" of risk-control, doublechecks, etc went down the drain in the Gimli incident only reinforces my long-held doubts about construction and management of nu-ku-lear®© power plants.

D'uh...!

Paul

One reason that I do not like to fly is shown on this video

You're sure you didn't work for SAA when back in S. Africa. Second post today with references

I used to fly by SAA back in time or Kulula.com, but not intercontinental flights. Just no meaningful insinuation

This will cheer you up -

Hole forces Qantas plane to land

Nobody wants to say the word - but I will "bomb"...

You forgot to precede it with "rubbish"...