The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday edition that just over a week ago, a Boeing 737 Max 9 operated by Alaska Airlines was forced to land unexpectedly after one of its cabin panels blew off in flight. Guest columnist Ashley Nunes writes that seeing a gaping hole at 16,000 feet, some of the 171 passengers onboard screamed, some cried and a few drafted final text messages to loved ones on the ground, all while oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling. Ms. Nunes says risks have grown over time as airplanes have evolved. The Boeing 727, which first rolled off the assembly line in 1962, has more than 100,000 individual parts. Its wide-bodied successor, the Boeing 777, which has been flying since 1995, has more than three million parts. That is more than three million opportunities for something to go wrong during assembly alone. In the push to give the public what it wants -- jets that are fast, comfortable and, most importantly, cheap to fly -- the company has made design decisions that entail compromises. Improving an airplane's design will not make it perfectly safe. If perfect safety is what you are looking for, you would do well, as aviation pioneer Wilbur Wright once advised, to "sit on a fence and watch the birds."