honda point disaster
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I wonder if it was all seven captains who ignored their instruments, or if some just didn't have the confidence to speak up. The reports mention a very rigid hierarchy that might have played a bigger role than a simple disagreement with the gear.
classic groupthink, similar to the challenger launch.
I must disagree that the instruments were ignored. The crews were actually performing the calculations correctly, but they were using a flawed baseline for their dead reckoning, which led to a precise but incorrect result.
This feels so different when you consider they were relying on dead reckoning in thick fog... it makes you wonder if they were actually seeing the coastline or just imagining it because they were so desperate to be on track...
If the fog was that bad, did the ships have any standard protocol for slowing down until visibility improved? It seems impractical to keep pushing at full speed if you can't see your own bow.
The failure was compounded by the fact that the squadron was traveling at 20 knots. That speed left them almost zero margin for error once they deviated from the course.
They also ignored the available land-based markers. The issue wasn't just speed, but the total abandonment of cross-referencing.