RE: Interesting article... -- MIDRANGE-L

This whole thing is VERY Interesting indeed. What I find utterly amazing 
however, is some of the comments and ASSUMPTIONS made here and in other 
places regarding who know what and when they knew it. 

It would seem to me that if Comair or the software developer knew of the 
limitation (bug), it would have been fixed a whole lot quicker than it 
was. But, then that's an assumption on my part now.  :-)

Now, maybe I don't understand the problem very well, and I'm sure somebody 
at least as bright as me probably raised the same question at the time, 
but why couldn't they just roll the system date, and cleanup the mess 
afterward? Wouldn't this have temporarily fixed the issue, or am I 
over-simplifying? I know this would have been a band-aid, but when you're 
talking about an incident of this magnitude, sometimes a quick-fix is all 
you can do until you can resolve the real problem.  I'm sure it's a lot 
more complicated than that, and it wasn't a reasonable option, otherwise 
they would have executed it right?

As for who is to blame, there were probably too many to name. Ultimately, 
it would fall on the developer, however, there are many others in the 
chain that should bear the responsibility to go with it. In a situation 
such as this, blame tends to translate into punishment (firing) of those 
"deemed responsible", and then, as pointed out in the article, business 
returns to normal as if nothing happened. 


Ron Adams





"Wilt, Charles" <CWilt@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent by: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
05/04/2005 02:08 PM
Please respond to Midrange Systems Technical Discussion

 
        To:     "Midrange Systems Technical Discussion" 
<midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
        cc: 
        Subject:        RE: Interesting article...


Steve,

There's certainly some good discussions on slashdot.  But I don't think 
I'd classify it as a _good_ source of info.  Useful? Yes, but a _good_ 
source IMHO would be one with more wheat than chafe...I don't know that 
slashdot usually passes that test.

I'm sure the FAA regulates the software directly related to flight safety, 
such as control towers radars ect.  I don't know that the FAA regulates 
all software in use by an airline.  I doubt that is even possible, and 
even it was possible I'm sure it's not cost effective.  Do you have a 
source for this?

Even if the FAA certified the Crew Scheduling app we are discussing, that 
would have been 20years ago and at the limit the limit most certainly 
would have passed muster.  So, in order for the FAA to be responsible, 
they would have to recertify every application every few years.  Again, 
may be impossible and certainly wouldn't be cost effective.

I don't mind the FAA spending my tax dollars to ensure that the plane I'm 
on doesn't fall out of the sky ect.  But I don't think that the FAA's 
mandate needs to cover all possible inconveniences.

Charles Wilt
iSeries Systems Administrator / Developer
Mitsubishi Electric Automotive America
ph: 513-573-4343
fax: 513-398-1121
 


> -----Original Message-----
> From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Steve Richter
> Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2005 2:03 PM
> To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
> Subject: Re: Interesting article...
> 
> 
> 
> Hi Charles,
> 
> slashdot is good source of info, no? 
> 
> I cant prove you wrong but what about this ...  Sabre was selling a
> competing version of the software.  at least a 6 figure, possibly 7
> figure price tag for the replacement system.  Wouldnt the people
> marketing the replacement software know the weaknesses of what Comair
> was using?  The salesperson would not use that info when marketing to
> Comair?
> 
> I am a cynic when it comes to business.  It is not just the Comair
> execs who would look bad if what I think is the true story of the
> Comair meltdown came to light.  It is the FAA that regulates and
> approves all software used in the operation of an airline.  Since the
> FAA imposes all these requirements on airline software to supposedly
> make sure the airline is safe, shouldnt FAA officials be held
> accountable when the system fails?
> 
> -Steve
> 


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