In September 2006, 14 members of the Royal Air Force lost their lives during a NATO-led offensive in southern Afghanistan. Though all wartime casualties leave indelible scars on surviving friends and families, the loss of these servicemen bears particular tragedy because they died in a preventable accident. That accident took place because misplaced confidence and false assumptions projected an illusion of safety that care and vigilance might have shattered. This is a story that unfolds in every industry, in every sector. It is the story of an organization that allowed complacency to trump watchfulness and transition to undermine safeguards. NASA faces significant changes now. What steps will we take to sustain a safety culture to carry us through upheaval that transitions can bring?