Human Factors of the Titanic
Update: 2025-09-30
Description
...and now for another Human Factors Minute!
According to the granddaughter of the second officer aboard the Titanic, Charles Lightoller, The Titanic sank from human error. A new steering system led to a mistake by the steersman, into going "hard a port" instead of "hard a starboard" and straight into the iceberg instead of away from it.
According to the second officer's ancestor, a Charles Lightoller was the most senior officer to survive. He kept the secret from two separate inquiries because, according to his granddaughter, he saw it as his duty to protect the White Star Line from bankruptcy. He only told his wife the truth. His family kept it secret after his death to protect his reputation. He was a twice decorated war hero.
To make matter's worse, the chairman of the White Star Line, owner of the Titanic, ordered the ship to keep sailing. If they had stayed still as the captain had wanted, the ship would have taken hours to sink. Long enough to rescue everyone aboard. Instead, 1500 people died.
This has been another Human Factors Minute!
Be sure to check out our main show at our official website: https://www.humanfactorscast.media
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Music by Kevin McLeod: https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/
According to the granddaughter of the second officer aboard the Titanic, Charles Lightoller, The Titanic sank from human error. A new steering system led to a mistake by the steersman, into going "hard a port" instead of "hard a starboard" and straight into the iceberg instead of away from it.
According to the second officer's ancestor, a Charles Lightoller was the most senior officer to survive. He kept the secret from two separate inquiries because, according to his granddaughter, he saw it as his duty to protect the White Star Line from bankruptcy. He only told his wife the truth. His family kept it secret after his death to protect his reputation. He was a twice decorated war hero.
To make matter's worse, the chairman of the White Star Line, owner of the Titanic, ordered the ship to keep sailing. If they had stayed still as the captain had wanted, the ship would have taken hours to sink. Long enough to rescue everyone aboard. Instead, 1500 people died.
This has been another Human Factors Minute!
Be sure to check out our main show at our official website: https://www.humanfactorscast.media
Support us on these platforms to get access to the entire Human Factors Minute library:
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/humanfactorscast
Buy us a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/hfactorspodcast
Join us on Discord:https://go.humanfactorscast.media/Discord
Follow us:
Human Factors Cast Merchandise Store: https://www.humanfactorscast.media/p/Store/
Follow us on Twitch: https://twitch.tv/HumanFactorsCast
Follow us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/HumanFactorsCast
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/humanfactorscast
Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/HFactorsPodcast
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HumanFactorsCast
Resources:
Music by Kevin McLeod: https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/
Mentioned in this episode:
Support us on Patreon for access to the full library of Human Factors Minute
https://www.patreon.com/humanfactorscast
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