It's a matter of preparation — bolting down yourwater heaterbeforean earthquakeoractuallyreading the in-flightsafety card before takeoff — but also ofmentalconditioning.
In 1999, a private jet carrying golfer Payne Stewart and five others crashed after apparently losing cabin pressure "for undetermined reasons" after takeoff from Florida, the National Transportation Safety Board found.
To fight surgical infections, often caused by harried doctors forgetting to administer preoperative antibiotics, the hospital initiated a pre-op pause, like the one for pilots before a takeoff: Everyone stops for 30 seconds to make sure all safety steps have been taken.
The Dubai-bound Boeing 747-400 operated by National Air Cargo crashed just after takeoff Monday from Bagram Air Base around 11:20 a.m. local time, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement Tuesday.