Software bugs

Examples

• Software bugs in the Therac-25 radiation therapy machine were directly responsible for patient deaths in the 1980s.
• In 1996, the European Space Agency's US$1 billion prototype Ariane 5 rocket was destroyed less than a minute after launch due to a bug in the on-board guidance computer program.
• In 1994, an RAF Chinook helicopter crashed, killing 29; this was initially blamed on pilot error, but was later thought to have been caused by a software bug in the engine-control computer.
• Buggy software caused the early 21st century British Post Office scandal.