Planning for super safety: the fail-safe dimension

It has long been a requirement in air transport that no single failure can have a catastrophic effect. As nothing can ever be failure free, fail-safet y in design and operation must be provided in all respects. This paper explores the design background, application and history of the c oncept of fail-safety in air transport and the vital role it plays in overa ll safety. It is suggested that fail-safety is the most important disciplin e of all those involved in safety in design and operations. Without it, the current air transport safety levels, even using the latest technologies, w ould not be possible. In the modern air transport system, all accidents are due either to fail-sa fety implementations breaking down, or not having been adequately provided, or due to extremely remote multiple coincident failures. It can be argued that inadequacies in fail-safety provisions at the very low target failure rates now demanded, is the main reason for the near constancy of the accide nt rate, and the consequent increase in numbers of accidents as the world f leet grows. In the forefront of fail-safety problems is the inadequacy of i ts use in the management operations of crew in the modern air transport coc kpit.