framer. Light aircraft is my domain; I am not attempting to extrapolate to airliners.
A retired sea captain acquired a kit-built and decided to fly to the RNZAF 75th anniversary show at Ohakea. He was told several times where he could refuel; it seems he didn't. It had a Rotax engine and he didn't want to use avgas. Splat.
A maxillo-facial surgeon bought a twin. Late in the day after a farewell at the hospital he took off with his two young sons from Feilding. One engine stopped - he had turned the fuel off himself - and he returned to FI, despite being told many times in the event of an engine failure to go to Palmerston North. He turned into the dead engine. Splat.
An instructor strapped a very fat man in an aerobatic acft, filled it with fuel, climbed vertically until it went into an (anticipated) inverted spin, ~150kg overweight. Splat.
These are examples that spring to mind. I think you have serendipitously put your finger on the problem: people do stupid things "without thinking" because they don't see the danger, don't assess the risk. Sometimes people just don't think, even clever people. The difference is, once a problem has been identified, clever people do better solving it.
Flying presents a strange dichotomy. Pilots must be very confident yet avoid all unnecessary risk. That is a matter of judgement.
Business people must take risks. If they succeed they think they are clever. It might be just luck. Read: Everything is Obvious - Once You Know the Answer; Duncan J Watts, formerly Australian Navy, now sociologist with a difference - PhD in theoretical mechanics.
Last edited by Ornis; 20th Apr 2012 at 20:38.
Reason: spelling