Re:Near-miss between FedEx and Southwest flights in Austin
by Sakos on Sunday February 05, 2023 @04:57PM
(#34669977)
It would interest me to know what the reasons are for ground radar not being more widespread and how many accidents are preventable by ground radar yearly. My first guess is that incidents where ground radar would've prevented them are so rare that it isn't worth the expense or the additional complexity or additional point of failure, and it's more productive/effective to solve the issue at different points in the system instead.
Re:Near-miss between FedEx and Southwest flights in Austin
by TrickyRick on Wednesday February 08, 2023 @06:19AM
(#34706670)
This is like saying "I don't wear my seatbelt because I've never been in an accident". Safety systems isn't about one or the other, it's about having multiple systems and procedures in place to prevent a disaster. Proper procedures are good, and it's a first line of defense, but humans make mistakes and are imperfect in other ways (Such as not being able to see through fog). Proper procedure in the case of near 0 visibility would be to greatly increase separation between planes, something which wasn't done in this case, and something which would slow down traffic a lot more than passengers and companies like.
Re:Near-miss between FedEx and Southwest flights in Austin
by Retric on Wednesday February 08, 2023 @03:30PM
(#34714527)
It’s more like saying school busses don’t need seatbelts because based on a great deal of evidence, they don’t significantly improve school bus safety.
In this case the accident was avoided because aircraft could see each other long before there was a meaningful risk. It wasn’t a mismanaged zero visibility situation but rather proper procedures working.
aka We can’t tell if the risk is 1 in a million flights or 1 in a billion flights, but we know it’s not 1 in 100,000 or there would be more major incidents.