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Airlines and Software

This might be a little off topic, but after reading this article from USA Today, I thought the software industry should be inspired by the airline security system.



As far as I know, the reason why air flight is the safest way of traveling is much due to these aspects.

One, all the parts involved work toward ZERO fatalities.

Two, their effort is never "good enough".

Three, they have a very open mind, sharing all the information about problems and crashes (the system was born when planes were "constantly" crashing so the pilots were very interested in sharing their experiences !)

Four, unfortunately aircafts can't really pull over to change a flat tyre or stop to check their engine along the road !
Airplane manufacturers are therefore forced to build better, safer airplanes with improved safety and performance. Maintenance technicians are also forced to improve procedures to enhance reliability and safety and I think that regulators contribute with controlled procedures and checklists to avoid omissions or carelessness, and accident investigators generate a fair and exhaustive analysis of the accidents.

There are also other factors, but they are valid for any other transportation systems: pilots improve their skills, there are better weather forecasts, customers "forced" the industry to adopt new technologies, training methods and to improve human performance, etc.

I guess that software makers (including myself) should think about this !
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