Crash of United Airlines Flight 232 - Essay Example

Crash of United Airlines Flight 232 Introduction Flight 232, a DC-10, was enroute from Denver to Chicago on July 18, 1989, when the engine fan assembly failed, causing the loss of all three hydraulic systems powering the aircraft’s flight controls (Conroy, 2005). The aircraft made an emergency landing at Runway no: 22 of the Sioux City gateway airport that provides services for both civilian aircraft as well as the Air National Guard. The aircraft burst into flame as it landed, but due to a water supply problem, the blaze was not brought under control until two hours after the aircraft crash landed. There were 296 people aboard the aircraft, of which 111 died and 185 survived. This Memo outlines the ethical issues surrounding the crash. Problem Statement: The crash of Flight 232 revealed several glitches that increased the human toll from the accident. The first was the internal malfunction of the delivery system, as well as the too-high cornfields surrounding the airport, which obstructed the views of the rescue crews (Conroy, 2005). The second was the use of the airport for both civilian and military purposes. There were also some training issues identified in the manner of response to the accident. The problem statement examined in this Memo is: To what extent do ethical issues play a role in the engineering defects that were revealed in the accident? Approach and Analysis: When any aircraft crash occurs, there are generally lesser problems and issues that also occur, which, if properly diagnosed and acted upon, can serve as warnings that could pre-empt major accidents. A NASA survey was carried out among airline pilots to report upon such incidents that could reveal trends that might potentially spell disaster, in terms of indicating the possibility of a major incident. The results appeared to indicate a high existing level of such incidents but NASA chose not to release the results (www.engineeringethics.blogspot.com), and was quoted as commenting that it did not wish to harm the airline industry by releasing the results. In the case of the crash of Flight 232, there were several such warning indications which were not acted upon, thereby raising the question of whether it was ethical to downplay such warning indications. Results: The results of the analysis show that the major issue hindering the application of ethical decisions is the economic considerations of the airline industry. Ethics plays a salient role in the engineering decisions, because the failure of ethics to take precedence may have contributed significantly to the toll from the crash. Discussion: At the outset the first ethical issue that arises is whether the airport should have been used for both military and civilian purposes. Since the military would generally have precedence over the civilian, this produced a clash on the day of the crash of Flight 232. One of the clear findings that emerged from the investigation into the crash of Flight 232 was that two A-10 fighter jets were allowed to land, even after an emergency status had been declared on the DC-10.(Conroy, 2005). These military aircraft in effect, obstructed the runway path that was originally designated as the target runway for the distressed flight to land. The decision to allow the two fighter jets to land added to the concerns about safety, since Flight 232 was initially targeted to land on the same runway, which also raised the possibility of further collision damage. Although Flight 232 later landed on a different runway, the event nevertheless caused confusion, which could have been avoided if the conflict between priority for military versus civilian aircraft did not arise. This was a potential problem that was foreseeable, since military matters must of necessity take precedence over the civilian. While this would not necessarily pose a problem during a time when operations are proceedings normally, it is not difficult to foresee that a problem could arise when a civilian aircraft is facing an emergency and requires precedence in handling. The conclusion that must be made in this context is therefore, that the airfield should not have been used for both civilian and military purposes, because from an ethical standpoint, it causes problems by potentially placing a civilian aircraft in an emergency into a subordinate position as compared to military vehicles. Another significant finding that emerged from the crash of Flight 232 was the height of the cornfields around the airport. The leasing of these cornfields provided revenues for airport operations, but it also obstructed the views of the rescue teams (Conroy, 0205). Focusing upon revenues as opposed to the potential obstructions posed to rescue teams highlights an important ethical issue – the precedence of money over potential risk to human lives. The design of the land around the airport should have taken into consideration the possibility of such impeding of rescue efforts and initiated appropriate redesigning. A similar engineering ethical issue is raised in the internal malfunctioning in the water delivery system. A small, plastic PVC stiffener in the soft hose assembly of the tanker truck that should have delivered water at the site of the accident was inadequate (Conroy, 2005). This defect was discovered only a short while after the emergency status of Flight 232 became known, and it caused a two hour delay in putting out the fire, thereby increasing the human toll. But the hose design should have been rectified or redesigned long before the accident. The level of training provided to firefighters may have also been inadequate, because one firefighter was unable to recognize that the roof turret was not in manual mode, which caused further delays. This further highlighted the fact that adequate designing and training was not provided in coping with stressful situations and there was an inadequate provision where this aspect was concerned. Where all the above aspects are concerned however, it clearly indicates that existing engineering ethics may be in need of improvement and there may be clear signs indicating that such improvements need to be made. But as revealed by the hesitation in releasing the results of the NASA survey (www.engineeringethics.blogspot.com), this has to be counterbalanced against the potential negative impact upon economic revenues for the airline industry. Conclusions: Based upon the discussion above, it may be noted that economic considerations played an important role in downplaying safety issues and provision of adequate safeguards and investments into engineering design and crisis training. In allowing corn to grow above a desirable height, allowing military and civilian aircraft to use the same airport and failing to allow adequate provision for good engineering design of water tankers, the overriding issue was one of economic gain and savings. The reason why NASA is reluctant to release the results of its survey is also because of the fear about economic implications to the airline industry. The crash of Flight 232 and the investigation into the reasons for the crash thus demonstrates how more attention may need to be diverted to ethical issues over economic ones, to ensure that adequate safety and risk prevention measures are instituted effectively. References: Conroy, Pat, 2005. “Aircraft accidents that caused major changes to emergency response equipment and procedures”, http://www.nfpa.org/assets/files//PDF/Member%20Sections/ConroyPaper.pdf; “NASA’s Air Transportation Safety Survey: Light, heat and fog”, January 7, 2008; http://engineeringethicsblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/nasas-air-transportation-safety-survey.html; Read More