About a year ago I exchanged some emails with John Pursley on the subject of rocketry construction and what it means to recover “safely.” He posted some similar thoughts on his blog later in the year. Some of what he mentions goes against the grain a bit, at least in terms of popular ideas regarding safety and construction, but I think his ideas are worth considering:
http://jpsmodelrocketry.blogspot.com/2011/10/just-what-is-safe-recovery-model.html