[jfoutz]

NTSB, i think, no one takes the blame. For example, if the error is something like "Mechanic didn't tighten bolt to appropriate torque."

So, what's wrong? maybe they forgot and need a checklist item? Maybe the reading on the wrench should be recorded in the log? should there be a second person that verifies?

They know they ask a lot of people, and it has to be right, every time. People get sick, tired, distracted, whatever. we're people. People are the least reliable part of the system.

I think blame only falls to a person when they've lied. Falsified a log, claimed to do something they didn't etc.

[pbecotte]

That's the thing. In the Air Force (at least)- there is no thought of cost/benefit analysis. A single machine fails once because a bolt wasn't torqued and causes $5000 of damage ... So they add the checklist item, and the second person, and an extra training item, and a log record that has to be maintained. The list of special rules and required documentation only ever gets longer. Eventually, you spend all your time on the checklists and maintaining the documentation, and none on actually doing whatever procedure you were originally messing with that bolt for.

[stinkytaco]

As someone who was a mechanic in the Army, I feel that checklists more often helped then harmed. Many mechanical problems we saw in the shop were easily attributable to an operator skipping a step on their PMCS. Doing something relatively dangerous or confusing could be error prone, especially for people who haven't done it much, and a checklist can help ensure the safety of everyone in the shop. A good example is running an engine indoors. Before you did it, there were a serious of steps you had to walk through before you turned it on, that reduced people getting sick from carbon monoxide quite a bit.

[zimpenfish]

"The Checklist Manifesto" is an -excellent- read on the helpfulness of checklists in preventing problems and mistakes (primarily from a surgeon and medical viewpoint but he covers airlines as well.)

http://atulgawande.com/book/the-checklist-manifesto/

[zentiggr]

As a submarine fire control tech, I always thought it was cumbersome to have three full size binders open in my lap during weapon firing drills, casualty drills, everything except calm open water transit. But flipping those pages and grease pencilling things even while in the hot of prepping weapons to leave the tube avoided a LOT of "hurry up and whoops!" mistakes. Sometimes crufty stuff needs a review and rewrite but, n the whole, I'd rather know what happen wrong the previous times and avoid it myself.