Usability

Usability is very wide spread concept that not enough designer pay attention to.

I am not only referring to software design, industrial design, or architect. Of course the concept is much more prominent in these profession now a days, but there are still life threatening design professions that still do not put enough emphasis on usability.

Case in point are the designers for the Congonhas airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Yesterday an Airbus 320 ran off the runway killing all 189 people on board.

This airport is the busiest airport in Brazil with international flights on jumbo jets landing every few minutes.

Now they reports there had always been complaints fro airline pilots, claiming the runway to be too short for landing. These complaints suppose to have existed for years.

What I don't understand is how an international airport can operate for so long with such alledged defect.

The most surprising part of the accident, was the fact that everyone died. As many knows there had been many incidents where airliners ran off runways for various reasons. Including the incident in Hong Kong where the Chinese airline pilot ran off the runway of the old Kai Tak International Airport and crashed into the Victoria Harbour.

so why did these passengers die? That is because the plane ran into the airport's fuel tanks when it ran off the runway and burst into flames; with temperatures of over 1000C. Who in their right minds would put suchdangerous harzards at the end of a runway? Of course we do not expect planes will run off runways, but accidents will happen, and placing dangerous flamable fuel tanks at the end of a runway definitely did not take into account of usability.

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