A safety complex

The ‘no blame’ safety culture has greater value than crash headlines

The Asiana Boeing 777 had hardly come to rest at San Francisco than the armchair experts emerged with all of their wonderful conjured theories. As the investigators were still on their way to the accident scene, everything from faulty navigation systems to racial stereotypes were being blamed and broadcast to the world. For all of the misinformation, what was highlighted once again was the complex nature of aviation safety.

The fact that so many variables could have caused this tragic accident demonstrated that flight safety results from the co-existence of a great many factors. Any combination of which may be the offending culprits. The ‘Pilot Error’ brigade was also in voice very early in the piece, slamming down their rubber stamp verdict on the report that was yet to be written. This sole-cause philosophy has not only been shown to be faulty over recent times, but what real purpose does it serve? At best, a band-aid solution may be offered while at worst, a systemic root cause may be overlooked.