In almost all realms of human progress, lives have been lost along the way. People died when ships sank, so we made ships safer. People died when rockets malfunctioned, so we made those safer too, and when bridges collapsed, when trains crashed... just about everywhere we have brought in technology to improve our lives. It can't be denied that we are remarkably complacent and usually need people to die to prompt these actions, but in almost every example, those deaths aren't in vain. Something is learned from it. Those who do, make the future safer. It doesn't explain away people dying, but maybe some can be comforted that at least they did not die for nothing.

You just have to make sure that you can prove you weren't reckless doing so and did your best to minimize risk.