Despite the great degrees of expertise on display here, are we in danger of losing sight of what this is all about? A large, sophisticated aircraft suffered sudden catastrophic failure, with multiple fatalities. Those bland words ‘multiple fatalities’ do, of course, conceal personal, human tragedies on a large scale. And the phrase ‘catastrophic failure’ can imply far-reaching consequences for the operator of the aircraft concerned.
Catastrophes like this are vanishingly rare, whether in military or civilian operations, mostly because all the possible causes have been foreseen, considered and dealt with. When this rarest of events does occur, it is surely unlikely to be because of something totally unforeseen - but rather because a known, recognised risk has been miscalculated, or worse, ignored.
My fear is that the investigation of this broad view will turn out not to have been ‘within the remit’ of the BOI.
airsound