The Structural Post Mortem: Catastrophic Failures and Lessons Learned

Key Insights

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• The Structural Post-Mortem often result from multiple interacting failures
• Human factors are as important as technical design
• Safety standards evolve from catastrophic events
• Counter-intuitive design decisions can lead to disaster
• Ethical considerations are crucial in engineering

References

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1. Petroski, H. (1994). Design Paradigms: Case Histories of Error and Judgment in Engineering. Cambridge University Press.
2. Vaughan, D. (1996). The Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture, and Deviance at NASA. University of Chicago Press.
3. Perrow, C. (1984). Normal Accidents: Living with High-Risk Technologies. Basic Books.
4. Tenner, E. (1996). Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences. Knopf.
5. Reason, J. (1990). Human Error. Cambridge University Press.