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articles:human_error_b-17_crashes_during_ww_ii [2019/10/31 20:48] rrandallarticles:human_error_b-17_crashes_during_ww_ii [2019/10/31 20:56] (current) rrandall
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 The Military asked [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonse_Chapanis|Alphonse Chapanis]], a psychologist, to investigate this behavior. Chapanis immediately noticed that the accidents only happened to certain planes and not others. There were thousands of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_C-47_Skytrain|Douglas C-47 "Skytrain"]] transport planes being flown, but their pilots never suffered from such inattention. The Military asked [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonse_Chapanis|Alphonse Chapanis]], a psychologist, to investigate this behavior. Chapanis immediately noticed that the accidents only happened to certain planes and not others. There were thousands of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_C-47_Skytrain|Douglas C-47 "Skytrain"]] transport planes being flown, but their pilots never suffered from such inattention.
  
-After inspecting the cockpits of the different planes the cause became clear. On B-17s the controls for the flaps and undercarriage were next to one another. They also had the same style of handle. Pilots who retracted the undercarriage when the wheels were on the ground were actually trying to retract the flaps. They just pulled the wrong lever.+After inspecting the cockpits of the different planes the cause became clear. On B-17s the controls for the flaps and undercarriage were next to one another. They also had the same style of handle. Pilots who retracted the undercarriage when the wheels were on the ground had actually intended to retract the flaps. They just pulled the wrong lever!
  
 In the C-47 "Skytrain" the two controls were very different and positioned apart from each other.   In the C-47 "Skytrain" the two controls were very different and positioned apart from each other.  
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 The pilots were well aware of which lever to pull. It was “human error” that caused the mistake. But laying the blame on the pilots wasn’t ever going to solve the problem. The pilots were well aware of which lever to pull. It was “human error” that caused the mistake. But laying the blame on the pilots wasn’t ever going to solve the problem.
  
-Perhaps you can find an equally elegant way in which to apply these concepts to prevent or reduce, human errors.+Perhaps you can find an equally elegant way in which to apply these concepts to prevent or reduce, human errors in your workplace.