http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20070919/tap-thailand-accident-air-c8d5519.html

The Thai air plane crash that has been all over the news recently is now nearing its final moments and with its closing comes several new revelations. While the facts and amount of injured and confirmed blow are without doubt some of the more important parts of the article, the fact that the plane was twice as old as it was previously thought to be is far more thought-provoking. Certainly, it is not a good indication on the budget airlines and the Thai authorities’ part, and the tourism industry will certainly be feeling the effects. And yet, one must ask why such a basic mistake might be made.

Of course, any such guesses will not receive any indication of truth from the Thai authorities. However, possibly, it is simply because there is far too much information regarding every little detail, every small fact in the running of the country. Even the most advanced computers, and even the neatest filing systems have their limits and while the truth remains and in fact has already been found, it is nigh-impossible for everything to be available at a moment’s notice.

This is also seen in how the cause of the plane crash has still not been discovered. There are far too many factors to consider. The article names bad weather, dangerous wind conditions, airport malfunctions, and pilot error, each amazingly detailed and complicated upon study, and more importantly, each a separate field in one process. To fully understand the situation is to require the meteorologists, pilots, and aviation experts. Vutichai Singhamany, a safety director at the Department of Civil Aviation, states "the investigation will take time -- I cannot say how long.’

There have been many cases of similar cases, and it has always been said that ‘accidents happen’. This incident of the budget plane crash is but one in a series of many that attests the limits of the human ability and what happens when one ventures too far into the field of human error. Of course steps are always taken to reduce the possibility of human error, but until the day where every single last process can be automated and carried out by technology, which appears to be in the distance, it will still continue to exist. The right way and the only way to respond is to try to improve yet again, pick up the pieces, and continue to move forwards, like what the Thai authorities have tried to do.