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02/10/2003 Entry: "desensitized to the possibility of failure / sensitized to profit"

The Post takes a step closer the the root of the shuttle story:

"They kept fixing it, but they never stopped to redesign it altogether because they didn't think it was serious enough to cause a catastrophic disaster," she said in an interview. "They became desensitized to the possibility of failure."

On the other hand, maybe a redesign would just cut into profits too much.

"Right away you see the incentive structure is problematic," Kay said. It might lead the contractors to think of every upgrade or maintenance operation in terms of how it would cut into its own revenue. " 'Do you really need to pay to replace those tires again? Can't they fly just one more flight or two?' "