ABSTRACT
In 1990, Martin Marietta deployed a satellite into the wrong orbit when engineers instructed the computer programmers to open the bay door to the hatch containing the satellite. The programmers opened the "wrong door," although they had followed the instructions correctly (Associated Press, 1990). Today, $150 million dollars sits dead in orbit around the earth. The total cost of the miscommunication: $500 million. In 1989, an Avianca airliner crashed in New York awaiting clearance for landing, while critically low on fuel. Ground control misinterpreted the Colombian pilot's urgent message regarding his fuel shortage and assumed that a fuel emergency had not been reached. More than 270 people died. The captain aboard the USS Vincennes had approximately 180 seconds in which to process information from several of his support staff and make the decision as to whether to shoot the (then misidentified) Iranian airbus and protect his crew. Although the decision was militarily correct, 290 civilians died and questions were raised regarding the inadequacy of our scientific knowledge concerning team decision making and decision support systems in this "real life" setting.
