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The Inevitable

It might sound cruel or fatalistic to say that air crashes are inevitable ... but then risk lurks at the crossroads where complex technology interacts with the human mind.

The Mangalore air crash has sort of come and gone. India is this BIG country that absorbs so many happenings. Air crashes, train crashes, bus crashes, folks going to some marriage ceremony getting electrocuted, IED explosions by Maoists, train derailments caused by 'rogue' Maoists, cars falling into BIG holes in the middle of roads, some old, unfortunate men falling into 'manholes' and hurting themselves/dying, kids falling into bore-holes ... and perhaps even dying, parents forcing their daughters to 'abort' their seven-month-old fetuses ...

Oh, 'abort' has an aviation-ring to it ... so, let's get back to aviation. The A380 is now in service. I don't know how many permutations and combinations of simulated 'dangers' the plane has been put through. Is it 'unsinkable' ... like the Titanic? Certainly not.

The Concorde flew flawlessly ... albeit somewhat unprofitably ... for 30 years before some sharp metal objects on a runway led to a burst tyre and a fire and a plane crash and the end of that story.

Will the A380 ever crash? May be, once in 30 years. And that might happen in India since Indians are good at taking 'short cuts' and will do that inevitably with some 'maintenance' stuff or something ...

But, an A380 crash in India with may be not a full plane would only provide a good 'case study' and would not cause too much of an uproar in the wider world of aviation.

Truth be told, I am looking forward to Kingfisher bringing the plane to India and I would then hitch a ride on it ... crash or no crash.

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