I know very little about aviation. Can someone explain if there is a tool tracking system, or what measures mechanics use to track tools used in something like that? This sounds like an edge case, but also seems very preventable if all tools are tracked. Like they try to do with humans in surgery.
For code running in a commercial jet engine, so usually DAL A or DAL B? You should be caught by the first level of verification —- can’t even get past code review, because you don’t have a requirement to tag to trace the useless code back to. If that process failed (and any can), you have the whole climb up the right side of the V. And in the end, if the code is not /so/ useless as to be removed by the compiler, the final check that all generated bytes have traceability should catch it.
That's partly where I was going: performative vs effective processes.
Otoh, the fact that there's a clear audit log that this happened, even if it wasn't effectively handled at the time, is quite impressive.
And finding a lost tool is a toughy -- how do you avoid an infinite loop, looking for something that really did walk off the site and/or end up in a trash can? You can't prove the lack of something.
A medical issue followed by lack of sufficient follow up should not happen, but they statistically will eventually.
Otoh, the fact that there's a clear audit log that this happened, even if it wasn't effectively handled at the time, is quite impressive.
And finding a lost tool is a toughy -- how do you avoid an infinite loop, looking for something that really did walk off the site and/or end up in a trash can? You can't prove the lack of something.