They are so big and it seems like so much could go wrong yet they are statistically extremely successful.
In: Engineering
For decades, every time there was a crash, there has been a legally-required investigation to determine the causes of the crash. This does not aim at charging anyone with a crime; but rather at making clear statements on how the crash happened and how it could have been prevented. These then are turned into requirements for making airplanes safer.
Repeating that process *over and over* means that more and more causes of crashes get eliminated.
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Suppose that you make a pie, and the pie turns out to be not very good. You figure out *why* it was bad (“the crust is soggy”) and you do some research and figure out *what could be done* to make it less bad (“parbake the crust before adding the filling”).
The next time you make a pie, you make that change! So even if the new pie is still not perfect, at least it doesn’t have the *specific problem* that the first pie did. Maybe the second pie is not very good because it’s too sour and needs more sugar — but at least it doesn’t have a soggy crust!
So you keep figuring out what’s wrong, and fixing it, and trying again.
But you don’t forget the lesson you learned from the first pie. Every time you’re dissatisfied with a pie you made, you figure out *why* and you fix it the next time. Over time, you build up a whole bunch of rules for how to avoid pie problems.
After making lots of pies this way, eventually you get a reputation as the person who always makes really great pies. It’s not that you started out perfect; it’s that you kept finding problems, fixing them, and not forgetting the lessons of your earlier mistakes.
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