Airplane Accident: Who Is Responsible - Assignment Example

Airplane Accident: Who Is Responsible? Airplane accidents are the most tragic accidents as compared to other forms of transport, but sadly, in most cases, the person/people responsible are never determined. In addition, it is usually unclear whether the victims are entitled to compensation on not. This paper three accidents that is; the Ethiopian Boeing 778, Asiana Flight 214; Boeing 777 and Southwest airlines Flight 812; Boeing 737, and issues that arise from them such as compensation. Most of the airline accidents occur due to various reasons some, intentional while others purely accidental. No matter the case, families of the victims stand a chance of compensation depending on the occurrence of the accident and the contractual obligations of the airline company. The airplane manufacturers are the most responsible for the airplane accidents. This is because most of the airplane accidents are due to engine mechanical failures, which come as a result of poor engine design and manufacturing. As explained by one of the passengers in the Asiana Flight 214 “Then I heard the noise of the pilot trying to send more power to the engine to push the plane back-up” (Irving 52). This illustrates that due to poor design of the airplane engines, which cannot function normally throughout the journey is one of the causes of the airplane accidents. It is the manufacturers’ responsibility to ensure that all their airplane engines are of good quality to avoid causing accidents midway through the journey. The other manufacturing default is the use of poor fuselage skin used in manufacturing the airplanes (Norris 22). When the fuselage skin used in the manufacturing of the airplanes is very weak then there are high chances of occurrence of the airplane accident. This is because the fuselage skin cannot stand the high outside pressure compared to the pressure inside. This forces the air into the plane hence causing the pressure imbalance which cannot be controlled by the pilot resulting into accident. Manufacturing companies’ negligence is another factor that makes them responsible for the airplane accidents. The article Irving continues to state that W. James the chief engineer of Boeing asserted that the problem that resulted into the Southwest airlines Flight 812 accident was due to the poor manufacturing of the airplane and not a broader design (54). This indicates that most of the manufacturers are negligent on their part to ensure that they manufacture quality planes which do not have such serious defaults. But even when such manufacturing problems occur they are not ethically responsible for selling such planes to their customers, which then results into the airplane’s accident. It is also negligence on their part to inform the buyers of such planes about the manufacturing defaults that can result into the accidents. Poor testing of the already manufactured airplanes is another problem that makes the manufacturers responsible for the airplane accidents. It is the responsibility of the manufacturing companies to ensure that good testing is done to the already manufactured airplanes to detect any default in such planes. For example, most of the Boeing airplanes do not include the fatigue testing (Norris 23). That is testing whether the airplane skin can stand various numbers of travel distances at various altitudes of different pressure level to determine whether the fuselage skin can stand high pressure for a long time in a given number of travels. There is also poor testing on the landing and wing box. Therefore, the test done by the manufacturing companies does not represent the realities that the airplanes with their boarders go through in the everyday life. Being that there are new technologies in the manufacturing of the airplanes, most manufacturing companies do not use them in the manufacturing process hence resulting into airplane accidents. Lack of use of new technology of fuselage design in Boeing manufacturing has resulted in the use of poor fuselage which has resulted into accidents due to their high corrosive nature and low power to withstand high pressure level. Therefore, ignoring the use of the new technology by the manufacturing companies due to fear of incurring a high cost as resulted into high level of airplane accidents making the manufacturers responsible for these accidents. Manufactures of the airplane are also prone to use old production regime styles. For example, Boeing 737 demonstrated that Boeing overtime has incorporated many enhancement and advances into the airplanes systems but all these enhancements and advancements had its roots in the 1960s design which places limits on how much updating can be done. This is an indication in most of the American heavily used airlines. They remain prone to cracks caused by the metal fatigue, a weakness that has existed for decades. This shows that most of the airplanes are manufactured using the old designs mostly in fuselage design which occasionally results into accidents. Therefore, the manufacturing companies are held responsible for the airplane accidents as they do not want to change their old designs into new safer designs. Most of the airplane accidents are due to the failure in continuous maintenance checking by the manufacturers. Being that it is the manufacturer’s duty together with their clients, there has been a failure in their side to ensure that their products are well maintained so as to prevent any unforeseen accidents. Every airplane should be subject to inspection and changes required for problems from minor glitches to life threatening failures by their manufacturers, but this has been a failure hence leading to the occurrence of the most airplane accidents. There are also manufacturing flaws in various parts of the airplanes. For example, examination of some parts of the Southwest Airlines Flight 812 which got accident found that forty-two rivet holes of the plane were far out of alignment such that the lower holes had become oval, instead of round causing fatigue cracks, and paints had leaked from the outer skin into the joints causing the joints to be blown airway by the wind. These holes created cause inward thrust of air into the planes causing the accident due difficulties in controlling such a plane. The families of the victims of an airplane crash should be entitled to compensation. According to Andrew, the International law requires the airlines whose airplane has incurred a crash in which there were people with injuries or death cases to pay each family around $ 176 000 in damages (56). This law was agreed upon in 1999 treaty known as the Montreal Convention, which concerns the compensation for victims of air disaster. In addition, the families can sue the airline or the manufacturer of the airplane for additional damages. Though this is a matter of a court decision, the families of the victims should be compensated for the past and future medical expenses, past and future loss earning, “past and future pain and suffering, past and future disability and any disfigurement that has resulted from an accident from the manufacturer, or airline depending on who is responsible” (Smolowe 72). This is because most of the accidents are not caused by the victims. For injury or death in an airplane accident, in most cases the victim may bring a claim along with his or her family who is entitled to compensation for the loss. There are various losses that the family of the victim incurs in case of an airplane accident such as the loss of support, services and other benefits that the family provides each other (Oster 10). In the case of wrongful death arising from an airplane accident, most countries provide that the descendants or loved ones are entitled to sue for damages. Although the damage standards for such a case, vary widely among different countries with some jurisdiction only permit recovery of the financial losses while others permit recovery of non-economic losses involved in the death of a loved one. For the families of the victims to be compensated for the losses incurred due to the accident, they are required to file a lawsuit case within a given period of time. Depending on the circumstances, the people who may have a right to bring a lawsuit are any person injured in an accident, the spouse, the children, the legal representative for the estate of a person injured, or the next of kin of the accident victim (Emilio 8). Once the time limit expires the family loses the right to recover any monetary damages from those responsible for the airplane accident. In most courts or jurisdictions, if the defendant is found liable then the family is entitled to a judgment that fully compensates them for their financial losses. In conclusion, the manufacturers of the airplanes are in most cases responsible for the occurrence of the airplane accidents. This is due to manufacturing of poor quality or substandard airplane, and its equipment that chances of accidents. Therefore, families of the victims of these accidents deserve compensation from the manufacturer and as stipulated in the Montreal Convention. Works cited Irving, Clive; Merrefiel, Clark. We lost the cabin. 159. New York: Newsweek. (2013): 52-56 Smolowe, Jill; Aradillas, Elaine; Breae, Howar. ASIANA FLIGHT 214 Lucky to Be Alive. 80. (2013): 72-73. Print Norris, Guy & Croft, John. Aviation week and space Technology.175. (2013): 22-23. Print Oster, C.; Strong, J. & Zorn, C. Why Planes Crash. Oxford University Press. 2010. Print Andrew, Brooks. Disaster in the Air. Ian Allan Press. 2012. Emilio, Corsetti III. 35 Miles From Shore. Codyssey Publications LLC, Lake St. Louis & MO. 2008. Read More