Originally Posted by
yanrair
Quite agree
In aviation we always wrestle with "safe enough". You could maybe build a crash proof environment but the cost would be astronomical and there would be no airlines making money.
Take the example of twin engined ETOPS jets. That is all based on "safe enough" and IFSD rates. Which by the way have been getting much higher recently.
Most pilots I know who have flown the 747 think her the queen of the skies because of the massive redundancy built into her. Lose an engine - carry on. Lose a hydraulic system - carry on and auto land CAT 111. Same with an engine out. Autoland still available - I seem to remember!!
Cheers
Yan
Just an FYI:
The 747-400 can auto land with a loss of one hydraulic system but It was never certified or flight tested in this configuration for the type certificate.