Why have some operators or locations never had an accident ?
Do not neglect the apparantly strange behaviour of random chance.
In any set of candidates - for example accidents per hour flown IFR in poor weather - there will be a small but finite random occurrance. The mathematics of chance tells us that it is perfectly normal to get some bunches and some large gaps. This is the nature of randomness - if the incidents were evenly spread they would not, by definition, be random.
What we do know is that accidents are not totally random, there are many factors which affect risk. Some risks such as training, culture, maintenance etc can be managed but others such as weather are beyond our control.
So - what can we do ?.
We must manage the known risks to the highest practical standards but there is little we can do about the weather in the North Sea or the random failure of a component which does not have a history of failures.
If an engine quits at 50 feet over the sea maybe we should not be asking why the engine quit but how we came to be too low and slow to recover.
[edit] My comments are general and are not intended to refer to this or any other specific accident.
Last edited by The Ancient Geek; 25th Aug 2013 at 15:12.