[Jim Sims]

The "normalization of deviance" is a slippery slope. NASA got burned and so will the airlines and FAA (and the flying public) if they fail to take strong measures to arrest the the tendency to cut corners. Flying is very safe because of all the redundancies - they should be jealously defended; not rationalized away.

From a US Navy operational lecture on the topic:

The loss of the shuttles Columbia and Challenger all too clearly illustrate how these natural tendencies can become disastrous. The Navy can learn a lot from these events to prevent future catastrophes. Both the shuttles were vulnerable because of a sinister phenomenon called "normalization of deviance," which occurs as individuals or teams repeatedly accept a lower standard of performance until that lower standard becomes the norm. Usually, this occurs because the people are under pressure (e.g., budget or schedule) and perceive it will be too hard to comply with the original higher standard. They may intend to revert to the higher standard when the stressful period passes. However, by getting away with the lower standard, it is likely they will do the same thing when the same stressful circumstances arise again. Over time, they stop seeing their actions as deviant or hazardous.