[Ads-l] fail safe, antedating 1944?

[Peter Reitan]

The fail-safe design principle existed as early as 1926, if not by precisely the same name, as described in conjunction with improvements in locomotive air-brake safety.

"This is in accordance with a basic principle which should govern the design of all safety apparatus, including signals, namely that in the event of any failure, such devices should go to 'warning,' 'danger' or 'stop,' or in other words, 'fail safely.'"

Wilkes-Barre Evening News, November 13, 1926, page 12.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/68473169/the-evening-news/



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