Ethical Dilemmas in Engineering: The AFB Brake Case
Moral Issues in Vandivier’s Report Decision
AFB 1. What moral issues were involved in Mr. Vandivier’s decision to write up the final qualifying report? Explain.
From my point of view, yes, there were very important moral issues involved in Mr. Vandivier’s decision to write up the final qualifying report.
Firstly, we must state that there is no legality in Mr. Vandivier’s action. Moreover, if you question whether something is good or not, if there is any doubt, and you are not really certain of its consequences, it leads to the involvement of moral issues.
In this article, Mr. Vandivier questions himself if he is acting properly or not, so according to what I have just mentioned, we can affirm that moral issues are involved.
Secondly, the fact that the lives of innocent people—indeed their freedom, which is one of the most important human rights—can be “stolen” because of this immoral attitude.
Thirdly, the lack of professionalism in a job that has such importance and responsibilities is so visible that, personally, I really think that a moral issue can be considered.
Fourthly and finally, I don’t think that Mr. Vandivier could have a clear conscience, with the consequences that can derive from his actions.
Moral Rightness or Wrongness of Vandivier’s Actions
2. Was it morally right or morally wrong? Formulate the moral standards.
According to my own judgment, I must say that Mr. Vandivier’s situation cannot be excused from being morally wrong. The reasoning for my judgment will be exposed in the following paragraphs.
At first glance, Mr. Vandivier didn’t want to participate in any falsification procedure; he questioned the viability of this project to his superiors and contributed by stating the violated military performance criteria by Goodrich. But unfortunately, even though Mr. Vandivier was conscious of the damage that writing that report could do in the near future, egoism “won the battle,” and he just thought of his wife, his house mortgage, and keeping the pot boiling.
This selfish attitude is really deplorable, mainly because the lives of the pilots and all the people that will fly in those A7D planes are at risk because of those incompetent and immoral people that contributed to the construction of these defective brakes.
The moral standard: Even though the main objective of a company is to make profits, people’s lives and human rights are above it.
Finally, answering the question of consistency: yes, of course, I would apply the same standard in any situation.
Moral Responsibility of Mr. Vandivier
3. Should Mr. Vandivier be held morally responsible?
In my opinion, the responsibility is shared between different components of Goodrich. Two different groups can be distinguished according to the “grade” of responsibility.
The first group, composed of supervisor Robert Sink and project designer John Warren, can be classified as being completely responsible for any accidents that may occur to the pilots or people that fly in the A7D planes. Although they knew that the brakes were defective, they continued with the project and forced everyone to do so. So according to the last statement of awareness, I must say that there isn’t any mitigating or excluding factor that could reduce their moral responsibility.
The second group, composed of Mr. Vandivier and the young man called Searle Lawson, I personally think that they are also responsible, but their responsibility is reduced because some mitigating factors can be found. Being sincere, I can understand that in this case, the freedom of these two people is a mitigating factor because they are somehow forced by their superiors, Warren and Sink, and their personal problems, such as economic problems. But I must clarify that people’s lives and human rights are above everything else.