American Airlines Flight 383, a Boeing 767, during takeoff roll from ORD suffered an uncontained catastrophic failure of their starboard engine yesterday. Just like the sim. Except in the sim you don’t have 161 passengers, the wing doesn’t melt, and people don’t make meme’s from your super cool pilot picture:
Spaceman Mike Massimino
I just finished the great book Spaceman: An Astronaut’s Unlikely Journey to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe by Mike Massimino. (It came out earlier this month, hardcopy, kindle, iBooks.) It’s an easy engaging read, the personal story of his cool travels through colleges, companies, and on to two amazing Hubble rescue missions on the Space Shuttle. Best astronaut book …
If an Error is Possible, Someone Will Make It
“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.” …
In the Wholeheartedness of Concentration
Concentration, time, work, art. Lots of time and lots of work. But it’s worth it. You will experience what others never see, never know. (quote from her 1997 essay collection Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry)
You Must Always Believe
Juan Manuel Fangio was F1 World Drivers’ Champion five times. And clearly someone who understood the perpetual pursuit of perfection.
Fly Away!
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. Radar composite pic is the ERAU fleet fleeing Florida for safer pastures.
Why Would a Ship Sail into a Hurricane?
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 …
World’s Okayest Pilot
World’s Best Dad mugs are cute. Michael’s World’s Best Boss mug is funny in The Office. Now there is a World’s Okayest Pilot cup. (It’s a real thing, you can buy them online.) I think it’s pretty funny! A pleasant change from the Top Gun best of the best of the tip of the spear trash talk. And it gets …
Light Bulbs, Red Lines, and Rotten Onions
I’ve talked about the MV Hoegh Osaka incident before. A huge ship that left port out of balance and soon was grounded on the Bramble Bank sandbar off the Isle of Wight. The official British Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report determined that a “fundamental principle of seamanship appears to have been allowed to drift, giving rise to potential unsafe practices.” Today I read an …
Chris Hadfield on Fear
“A lot of people live in fear because they haven’t figured out how you’re going to react when faced with a certain set of circumstances. I’ve come to terms with this by looking deeply into whatever makes me fearful—what are the key elements that get the hairs up on the back of my neck—and then figuring out what I can …