My thought for the day (distraction from a tedious database update)
Most people are aware that consumption of alcohol can result in serious injury or illness. Examples of this are common, so we might say the risks are obvious.
The correlation between quantity consumed and risk is much less apparent. An alarming effect of alcohol is to impair judgment, boosting confidence and drastically reducing risk awareness, leading to reckless behaviour. A small measure can be enough to trigger this downward spiral.
Seemingly minor issues can have drastic and unforseen consequences. I was away from home for a couple of weeks and lost a credit card. As a consequence, I would have been driving without insurance, facing the various costs and penalties. Saved only by fortunate timing.
How so? Default autorenew by insurers, payment card cancelled, no payment, insurance cover ends.
I came across an example at the extreme end of the scale.
On 23 March 1994, a senior pilot flying a new Airbus 310-300, with three other pilots and passengers, invited his children into the cockpit. Shortly afterwards the plane crashed killing everyone onboard.
The children did not directly cause the crash, but a sequence of events left the pilots unable to regain control of the aircraft, due to unfamiliar circumstances.
The subsequent investigation recommended additional pilot training to cope with unusual situations. Sadly, they also concluded that autopilot would have recovered normal flight, if the pilots had not switched it off.
As a consequence of this event, and in common with most air disasters, regular air travel safety has improved.
Most people are aware that consumption of alcohol can result in serious injury or illness. Examples of this are common, so we might say the risks are obvious.
The correlation between quantity consumed and risk is much less apparent. An alarming effect of alcohol is to impair judgment, boosting confidence and drastically reducing risk awareness, leading to reckless behaviour. A small measure can be enough to trigger this downward spiral.
Seemingly minor issues can have drastic and unforseen consequences. I was away from home for a couple of weeks and lost a credit card. As a consequence, I would have been driving without insurance, facing the various costs and penalties. Saved only by fortunate timing.
How so? Default autorenew by insurers, payment card cancelled, no payment, insurance cover ends.
I came across an example at the extreme end of the scale.
On 23 March 1994, a senior pilot flying a new Airbus 310-300, with three other pilots and passengers, invited his children into the cockpit. Shortly afterwards the plane crashed killing everyone onboard.
The children did not directly cause the crash, but a sequence of events left the pilots unable to regain control of the aircraft, due to unfamiliar circumstances.
The subsequent investigation recommended additional pilot training to cope with unusual situations. Sadly, they also concluded that autopilot would have recovered normal flight, if the pilots had not switched it off.
As a consequence of this event, and in common with most air disasters, regular air travel safety has improved.
