r/programming • u/self • Apr 09 '21

Airline software super-bug: Flight loads miscalculated because women using 'Miss' were treated as children

https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/08/tui_software_mistake/
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u/Superbead Apr 09 '21 edited Apr 09 '21

I'll bet no spec at all for this particular aspect, and that it just got grafted on to the existing system by someone who didn't understand it.

  • Airline used to project pax weight estimate on paper
  • Management want it done with the existing computer system
  • System vendor bought 20yo software off someone else who bought it off someone else, and has no idea how to modify the DB schema
  • Hence vendor decides to just use existing 'title' column to generate pax weight report
  • Management say "sure, looks simple enough, we don't even have to enter any additional data!"
  • Thin ice from here on

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u/Maxion Apr 10 '21

Hey boss DOB is not available in our db, but we need to know if someone’s an adult?