Sir -The propensity for humans to make mistakes is hardly new.
So why do so many aviation incident/accident reports begin with an excuse, such as: "I had just done three late shifts-"? Likewise, it is almost always the other driver who is responsible for the car accident. Why is human frailty so hard to admit?
By de-stigmatising error and accepting it as a natural function, we may be able to "manage" it in the way an alcoholic has to acknowledge addiction before he can manage the problem.
If a culture change is required, it will take years to permeate the psyche (and the industry) - but, if a start is made, we may have an initiative in place by the time quality assurance and cockpit-resource management have done their good work and not be flummoxed by any residual error.
As a postgraduate student on City University's MSc Air Transport Management course (Letters, Flight International, 5-11 March, P54) I am researching aviation error tolerance and its subsequent management.
I should be pleased if some of your readers were able to assist me in this.
Capt Mike Mylan
Peterston-super-ElyCardiff, UK
Source: Flight International
