I just went where I was sent

A wonderful story from Neil Gaiman: Some years ago, I was lucky enough invited to a gathering of great and good people: artists and scientists, writers and discoverers of things. And I felt that at any moment they would realise that I didn’t qualify to be there, among these people who had really done things. On my second or third night there, I was standing at the back of the hall, while a musical entertainment happened, and I started talking to a very nice, polite, elderly gentleman about several things, including our shared first name. And then he pointed to … Continue reading I just went where I was sent

It can happen to you

In 2013 FAA Safety Briefing magazine published a seemingly unremarkable story about a mindless runway incursion in a light piston twin. Human error. Could have been bad, but like most incidents, no big deal. What’s interesting is the author. He was a master pilot. The byline is Gene Cernan, fighter pilot, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, astronaut, Moonwalker, and general aviation pilot. And I just heard the real story on how he got to write his confessional article. Listening to the Flight Safety Detectives podcast #56 the hosts, former NTSB investigators John Goglia and Greg Feith talk with former JetBlue safety … Continue reading It can happen to you

Put your eyes here

Overheard from my third-grader’s zoom classroom — “Put your eye’s here Alex”. Very clear directions from an experienced elementary school teacher. A teacher who knows if you’re not looking at the words, you’re not reading the assignment. So simple. But very powerful for him, and me. Because last night I read in the excellent 2019 book Controlling Risk: Thirty Techniques for Operating Excellence, by five-time Shuttle commander Jim Wetherbee, of the same idea. When he was a Navy A-7 pilot there were several crashes caused by computer limitations that forced pilots to manually enter navigation coordinates while flying close to … Continue reading Put your eyes here