Originally Posted by
Peter H
Only SLF but I'm getting the impression that compared to the rest of the world:
Some incidents seem to be occurring when there are very few layers of cheese (≥1?). But they also seem to be surprisingly small holes.
Your less layers with smaller holes is a good analogy , but in the US ( and elsewhere , not limited to the US, Africa is also a good place where this occurs too) ) the size of the holes are reduced by human intervention rather than rules and procedures . hence you allow more elements of risk but move more traffic .. Here "expedition" takes over the "orderly" in the ICAO definition .
You can also extrapolate this outside aviation ,like the financial sector for instance, where less regulations = more possibilities but greater risk .