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Old 26th Aug 2013, 00:28
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The Ancient Geek
 
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A quick analogy for those not familiar with statistics and the laws of chance.
There are 52 variables in a standard pack of cards - what are the chances of getting the same shuffle twice ?

If each shuffle takes 30 seconds there will be one identical repeat somewhere within about 5 billion years. The two identical shuffles could be 5 billion years apart or only a few minutes apart, we has no way of knowing this but we know that it will only happen once.

Aviation accidents are rare and the causes are diverse, each accident can involve multiple factors. We will never be able to predict them, we can only investigate causes and mitigate known risks. If two similar accidents occur in the same area this is essentially meaningless unless we can determine a precise common cause, anything else is just random chance.
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