Reuters reports on how officals from Japanese Airline operator ANA have apologised publicly for one of their planes “flipping” in flight. The story goes that the copilot hit a switch controlling the rudders, while trying to hit a switch which opened the door to allow the pilot to return to the cockpit from the bathroom. One wonders whether a risk analysis had ever been performed by the designers of the in flight layout, along the lines; “would it ever be possible that while trying to open a door the plane could be made to flip”. Surely that’s about as fundamental as not putting your junction box in the shower.
What’s really enlightening is that the airline officials seem to be humbled more by the fact that they didn’t go public earlier than they are about the incident itself, all of which reinforces the cultural diversity we enjoy every day.
The video shows the manouevre, but does not state whether the pilot had to return to the bathroom.
Source: Reuters, medlatest staff
published: October 4, 2011 in: Offline