In some ways Derricks' point is well made but as always
there are other factors. The point concerning the bereaved
and jumping to early conclusions without know facts
is particulary cogent. It is very easy to find a solution
to a problem that does not exist or even worse a solution
which is worse than the original problem.
On the other hand some accidents can give us all a
heads up to the things that might cause us harm. It
is perfectly legitimate to take the outcome of an accident
and think of ways in which we can avoid that outcome
without speculating on the causes which led up to the
particular incident. It is difficult to achieve a balance
and perhaps taking a little time to reflect on the
effect such discussion might have on others is required.
In the case of the incident which started this thread
I feel the lesson is simple. If you intend to fly at
altitude you better make damm sure you have an adequate
supply of oxygen. While I find the discussion of partial
oxygen pressure and the way in which I might come to
harm interesting I think that all I really need to
know is that if I go high without oxygen I will probably
die from it, why is of lesser importance. I am keen
to avoid dying, I have no intention of exploring the
way in which this could happen.

DAJ
ASW17 401 - Wave flying floats my boat.

At 22:24 15 August 2005, Derrick Steed wrote:
Tom wrote:
Derrick,
We (people) have a very short memory when it comes
to many safety
issues. Wouldn't it be nice if the highway authorities
left auto
wrecks on the side of the road for a few days or weeks
to remind us of
how dangerous driving is?

When an unfortunate event occurs, it reminds some of
us of our
mortality. Confronted with that, a portion want to
talk about their
fears and concerns.

Consider a ground level railroad crossing. Pretty dangerous
if you
ignore the signals, but after a while people get complacent
and
actually even stop on the tracks due to traffic congestion.
Then
someone gets hurt or killed and an uproar wells up
to have a bridge
built. After a few weeks it dies down and life goes
on. A few weeks
later, we again see people stopped on the tracks...

Fortunately, in aviation we don't have too many of
these folks who stop
on the tracks. We generally have experienced pilots
doing something
that confounds (some of) us. So we talk it out and
try to explore all
the ways WE might get into and out of the same situation.
We're not
always analyzing the specific accident, rather we examine
the
circumstances that have been brough before us and how
we might deal
with a similar situation.

-Tom

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tom,

I'm aware of the points you make and have been for
(more than three)
decades. It doesn't make the recent posts any more
the right way to
approach the subject, especially considering the distress
it would cause
some who might read it.

But, in a way, I suppose you're right. _My_ expectations
of people _are_
probably way too high.

Rgds,

Derrick Steed