Not only barristers make mistakes, Heath Row. All humans make them. Even pilots, and ATC. It's human nature, and can't be avoided.
Once thought to be infallible, investigators/procedures designers now recognise that aviation professionals can and do fail, and engineer stuff in such a way that it is extremely unlikely that a simple error will result in a major event. A readback is a primitive (and usually fairly effective) example of this.
A way you might find useful to cut down the incidence of reading back the wrong instruction (if you've forgotten what was said, rather than having heard/interpreted it incorrectly) is to develop a shorthamd, for writing involved clearances and info down. ATC do this. It works. The real "agricultural" model involves a chinagraph pencil, and a piece of perspex, such as the one you look at the view through. Cleans off with a chunk of cheescloth.
Last edited by Tarq57; 18th December 2012 at 07:22.