The trouble is, some things which are assumed to be facts aren't.
I realize there are methods to calculate load placement in aircraft, as well as fuel needed for a given trip, as well as a need to check lubrication of certain jack screws on the plane's rudders and elevators.
Which get screwed up, resulting in the ground gaining altitude uncontrollably.
So....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZWw-RY5p28Partly relevant, take your pick. Note especially how many "improvements" are made only after a disaster or accident occurs. Anyone who believes that all possible contingencies have been considered and no further unseen Murphy Incidents are possible is naive.
I was amused to find that in construction of one of the later "luxury plus" cruise ships, great care was taken regarding the amount of Carerra Marble that could be used in the ultra-luxurious top level apartments.
I also note that a lot of the ships' stability is achieved by dynamic means... either jet thrusters or hydrodynamic planes to counter any side thrusts on the ship including wind thrusts hitting the "sail area" as well as wave action.*
The trouble is, dynamic stabilization methods presume that there is power to operate them, and sometimes that the ship is moving in the first place.
Obviously, designing a ship to be immune to the very rare occurence of a 25 ft rogue wave (see video) would be uneconomical, but it's good to keep in mind that everything that tends to overbalance the ship increases the risk of capsizing.
And to assume that every jot and tittle of information is being correctly entered into the design calculations in the first place is also naive. We have whole threads in the "metric versus imperial" category where gross errors were made and not "caught" by anybody.
Sorry, but my "instincts" start to take over when I see ten or fifteen floors of cabins above the main deck. No amount of assurances of delicate balancing of the loads (like how much Carrera Marble you can use on the stairs) by careful calculation will assuage my suspicions. Especially with respect to the extra "sail area" of that extra height.
Or calculations of where to put those two extra cars on a cargo ship. (Also, see video.)
After all, the more delicate the balancing act, the more likely one is to approach tipover points.
And you know, the damned things do tip over... even while docked.
It's like "don't stand up in a canoe."
"Well then, exactly how high
can I rise before capsizing?"
"Let's see.... you're six feet tall, but the weight of your beard is only 5 foot above the deck, so we'll enter 3 grams into the beard weight dialog box in the computer..."
And the beard actually weighed 3 ounces, not 3 grams...
A "fact" in error.
Terry,
![grin =D](http://www.armedpolitesociety.com/Smileys/default/grin.gif)
* I don't know if they still use giant gyroscopes.