Nobody’s perfect
We all make mistakes, even me. Usually these mistakes are somehow caught and corrected by the system, and everything runs well. This applies not only to flying, but to all human activities. But sometimes… shit happens - there’s simply no other way to say it.
Even the best organization can make mistakes. Last week, the FAA’s NOTAM database crashed. I’m an IT guy, so I know this can happen. That was not an exactly glorious time for FAA, but there’s more to come.
After the crash of the Boeing 747 in Brussels last sunday, the FAA published an information report, because it’s a US-registered plane. Unfortunately, neither the bulletin author nor its reviewer were good at European geography, and locate the crash in Liège… Yes, Liège is in Belgium, but I confirm this crash occurred in Brussels.
Enough finger-pointing towards FAA ? Right. So what about NTSB ? I have high respect for accident investigation teams. They do a tough job, under pressure from various origins, and they carry important responsibilities.
I don’t know if it’s a jet-lag thing, or if all spotters, airport neighbors, were wrong, but all sources mentioned that the plane departed from runway 20. So what does the NTSB mentions in its first information report ? Brussels Airport (well done)… runway 25 Left (oops).
It’s always surprising when governing bodies does such mistakes, but all in all, it demonstrates that they’re human, after all. Oh, and if you want to comment about the post I published by mistake on the 10th, or any other thing… feel free.
One Comment, Comment or Ping
Jess Sightler
Yes, mistakes happen quite frequently with the ntsb actually. If you see the raw database itself, you will see a large number of other mistakes as well. It is amazing how often they misttype the airport code, the airport name, the airport city, or other critical pieces of information.
Needless to say, it can make finding common accident patterns at airports that you fly out of more challenging than it really ought to be.
But seeing the data also makes it obvious just how much information they collect from a typical accident. It has to be difficult to manage all of it.
Jun 1st, 2008
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