Ethics in Aerospace

Ethics in Aerospace

The aerospace industry is fairly new in our day in age. It has been recorded in history that the first flight ever by man took place in Kitty Hawk, NC roughly 100 years ago. Since that first model, drastic improvements have been made in aerospace technology. Aerospace has evolved from simple prop planes to sound barrier breaking jets and even to space shuttles. The very definition of aerospace in the adjective or active form is “of or relating to aerospace, to vehicles used in aerospace or the manufacture of such vehicles, or to travel in aerospace.” In general, aerospace deals with any dynamic manufactured vehicle that travels above the surface of the earth. This, as you might expect, leaves two possibilities, the atmosphere or our earth, and outer space. Such basic examples of aerospace vehicles are Cessna planes, Black Hawk helicopters, Goodyear blimps and the Columbia Space Shuttle. Throughout the 20th century and into the 21st, aerospace has and will continue to be an integrated part of our society.

Safety in the ethics and industry of aerospace technology is of prime importance for preventing tragic malfunctions and crashes. Opposed to automobiles for example, if an airplane breaks down while in mid-flight, it has nowhere to go but down. And sadly it will often go down “hard” and with a high probability of killing people. The Engineering Code of Ethics states first and foremost that, “Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public.” In the aerospace industry, this as well holds very true, both in manufacturing and in air safety itself. Airline safety has recently become a much-debated topic, although arguments over air safety and travel have been going ...

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... Finally, the fairness issue would state that it’s only fair that everyone have the equal amount of safety in skies. This would imply that it would be the most fair if a higher percentage of passengers were free from fatal crashes rather than a lower percentage.

The final decision would then be to have the engineers and manufacturers are at the uppermost authority in aerospace decision making with regards to ethics. They should have the primary responsibility to inform the government, at any cost and at any concern as to the safety and well being of passengers who fly. Engineers and manufacturers are the ones who create aerospace vehicles, so they should be the ones to decide on the extent of their safety, and the safety of all who use them.

Reference Websites:

http://members.aol.com/safeflt/aspects.htm

http://dnausers.d-n-a.net/dnetGOjg/Research.htm