toobfreak
Tungsten/Glass Member
Two of the many incidents I was involved with were fires onboard. Both landed safely. Another was a fully loaded F-16 in Afghanistan that took a sudden left turn on the runway. Pilot was able to keep it from crashing.
The more I know about commercial airlines the more I am amazed more of them don't crash more often. So often, the initial failure leads to other problems because of interdependence, like when an engine fails and it turns out that this one engine is the source of power for powering the instruments which help you identify that your engine has failed. Then there is the rampant use of aftermarket parts which are either used or cheap substitutes to save on the cost of the approved part.
Or how airlines don't follow manufacturer guidelines on how to replace an engine and take shortcuts leading to the engine's failure. Yum. Now, I know the NTSA has addressed many of these things, still, they went on for years and stuff still goes on undetected.
Like you say, there is very little the airline can afford to lose or have go wrong and still make its flight.