"Mary Shafer" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 17 Jul 2003 05:10:03 GMT, "Lynn Coffelt"
wrote:


"Pat Carpenter" wrote in message
...
Insisting on perfect safety is for people who don't have the balls to
live in the real world.

- Mary Shafer, NASA Ames Dryden

http://www.skygod.com/quotes/

Oh, my gosh, did you really say or write that, Mary?

I sure did. I meant it, too. I still do.

Mary

And you're right too!
In the high performance airplane business anyway, all you get is a chance to
do it right the first time.If the airplane gives you a second chance, you're
damn lucky!!!. There are no guarantees. The people who work in this scenario
know the risks completely. They have accepted those risks and done
everything possible to minimize those risks through training, knowledge, and
ability. People who don't know this environment are the ones who do all the
crying and bitching when things go wrong. Those of us who know better do
what everybody in the active community does when the Tiger bites Although we
feel a loss deeply, and believe me, we do feel losses deeply; much more than
anyone outside the arena can ever imagine. We gut this out, then we pick
apart each and every facet of what happened; learn from it; and make
whatever adjustments are necessary to insure that what happened won't happen
to us. Then we assess the damage and get on with the program. There's WORK
to be done, and what we have learned will allow a tragedy to become
something more than a tragedy; a legacy that makes the overall program safer
for those who follow.
It's a cruel world up there, and progress doesn't come with a cheap price
tag sometimes.
I'm reminded of a forward I wrote many years ago for a tech manual I did on
ACM. The forward was true...and about says it all.

" I once had a friend. Jim was one horrific flying son-of-a-bitch. He was
the best natural born fighter pilot I've ever known. In his entire career,
he only made one mistake.
Jim's dead."

Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Commercial Pilot/CFI
Retired