Both pilots had studied the Route Guide. Both were safety-conscious.
Yet neither saw the 282-ft obstacle.
Lighting, layout, glare-how did so many small issues align?

#tbt to one of our most haunting episodes of The Essence of Safety. #rescue116

open.spotify.com/episode/1PAa...

“At 1:43 and some odd seconds, I felt the first shudder… a loud bang. Something was gravely wrong.”

The story of Greeneville — a U.S. Navy submarine, a routine drill, and a tragedy that shocked the world.

🎙️ Listen to the full episode now:
open.spotify.com/episode/1Tgb...

In 1968, a Japan Air Lines DC-8 landed in San Francisco Bay. No one died, but the captain’s blunt confession became legendary: “I f*cked up.”

But did self-blame help aviation safety - or hide the real lessons?

🎧 The Essence of Safety — new episode out now:

open.spotify.com/episode/1Tgb...

After many months of research, I finally finished the write-up for the next episode - and started recording it. Unforeseen circumstances aside, I should publish it next week.

The first part is about this ⬇️ accident. Fortunately no-one got seriously hurt. Any idea what it was?

Recently, the topic of pilot error / human error / human factor has come up a lot again, and I thought it might be useful to start a 🧵 summarizing how modern safety science views the human role in safety-critical systems – and particularly in accidents. It's going long, but worth it, I promise!

This episode about the Irish rescue helicopter was a real work of love, but writing it was really rewarding.