School of Business In Fulfillment of the Requirements for

COURSE (Project Management)

(Assignment 7 : de Havilland’s Falling Comet The Development of the Comet)

Supervised by:

Dr. Emad Alramada

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ID 62230099

Q1 : How could risk management have aided in the development of the Comet?

De Havilland was producing an aircraft that was so revolutionary in so many ways that they
may have become overawed by the push in technology for its own sake. Certainly, the
original Comet included several radical design elements (e.g., embedded engines in the wing
root, square windows, a pressurized cabin, and so forth) that any one of them could have
been a significant advance on its own. Putting them all together into the same new aircraft
design without adequate testing was a disaster. The question of how much testing is enough
is difficult to answer, but certainly, with so many innovations in one design, it is clear that
they did not engage in sufficient risk assessment and design testing.

Q2 : Discuss the various types of risk (technical, financial, commercial, etc.) in relation to
the Comet. Develop a qualitative risk matrix for these risk factors and assess them in
terms of probability and consequences.

The wide variety of risks that were present in this aircraft project. Commercially, de
Havilland had a huge investment in its success and perceived that first-mover advantage
would allow them to pick up a big piece of the commercial jet aircraft market if they
were first off the mark. Technically, the aircraft had so many new and radical features
that several of them could have been perceived as risky in their own right. All of them
together were simply too much risk, too fast.

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 Q3 :Given that a modified version of the Comet (the Comet IV) was used until recently
by the British government as an antisubmarine warfare aircraft, it is clear that the design
flaws could have been corrected given enough time. What, then, do you see as de
Havilland’s critical error in the development of the Comet?

Over time, the fundamental aircraft design (minus the original square windows) has been
proven successful, though the company never again attempted to launch it in the
commercial jet market. De Havilland tried to do too much, too fast and created an unsafe
design due to inadequate testing. It is often instructive to note that this foray into the
commercial jet aircraft market was de Havilland’s last, and the company never returned
to the level of technical or commercial success it had enjoyed during and just after the
Second World War.

Q4 :Comment on this statement: “Failure is the price we pay for technological

advancement.”
Although, De Havilland was the first to market the commercial jet aircraft, the lesson was
learned that design testing and technical testing is a priority in order to prevent such
accidents. The statement” Failure is the price we pay for Technological advancement’ is
too much broad for the story of the Comet. Failure resulted from non- adherence to
technological advancement and design plus inadequate testing and risk management.
With proper testing of the enhanced feature like square windows, pressure cabins etc.,
there could have been a way for the Comet to be successful, but it was pushed too
quickly. Innovation is essential but increasing the pace and overlooking the critical issues
is not the solution. If risk assessment would have been carried out properly, the failures
could have been prevented. At the time, when the innovation was pushed beyond a limit
one could have stopped it and no one should have allowed for it to go as far as it did. So
yes, the technological advancement eventually leads to failure. However, it was the non-
existence of risk management that eventually contributed to the De Havilland Comet
Project failure. Organizations continue to push the edges of the technological envelope
with new designs for buildings, aircraft, automobiles, etc. The issue that have to be
addressed is just how far one should be allowed to push this envelope and at what point
some system of controls should come into play. Clearly, the greater the consequences of
failure, the greater the oversight needed to ensure that sufficient risk analysis and
management has taken place.

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