The optimist: The glass is half full
The pessimist: The glass is half empty
The engineer: The glass is twice as large as it needs to be

…until you consider the case of the Tacoma bridge of course, which was also designed by engineers who did what they know was the right thing, but overlooked an aspect which almost nobody had thought of because they’d only started building bridges that way very recently. Which is also true for the airship we’re looking at here. Dynamic stability is one of the most reliable sources of aircraft trouble, so I find it perfectly excusable that Goblaurence would not have considered a scenario like this, where the weight suddenly shifts. Also perfectly excusable if the misdiagnoses the issue as “too much weight” in the first few seconds. If they were merely too heavy, they’d just start gradually losing altitude. But right now, he’s way to occupied to notice that.

It also reminds me of the old joke: Anyone can build a bridge that stands. It takes an engineer to built a bridge that *barely* stands.