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By Everard
#387597
I just discovered this documentary about the 1995 crash of the X-31. It is the same old story. Everything is apparently going well. No need to over-react to minor concerns. After all, the experienced guys aren't mentioning them...

X-31: Breaking the Chain: Lessons Learned
Youtube video

"Prepare for the unexpected and expect to be unprepared."

(Gotta admit I never heard of the X-31 before now.)
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By Windlord
#387617
Wow! Definitely a lack of communication all around. Too bad the chase pilot wasn't in on the "hot mic" from the beginning.
Interesting find Everard, I've never heard of that aircraft either.
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By Everard
#387619
There are lessons for us there. Complacency is a natural tendency, which doubtless evolved for good reason. (Maybe as you get practiced, it does not pay to be as careful.) However, as one of the guys in the documentary points out, the risk might be small, but -- in the unnatural act of flying -- the likely consequences of a mishap are dire.

Recently I witnessed several hang glider flights that missed disaster by luck more than judgment. The natural tendency is to assume that we have mastered the situation, and do the same again -- and assume the outcome will be the same. However, we need to apply more imagination and come up with a more conscious analysis of the risks we are taking. (The Robertson Charts of Reliability, by Canadian Michael Robertson, are an aid to that. I lent my copy to another pilot, so I don't have it any more...)