Engineering Disasters
Within the confines of a single second your whole world can come crashing down. Throughout history, mankind has been met with sudden disasters at seemingly random turns from faulty bridges, to malfunctioning airplanes and unstable nuclear reactors.
Yet, upon examination of the disasters, investigators have uncovered that the seemingly random turn of events had, in reality, occurred as a result of slight mistakes made by the engineers and mechanics that designed the structures. Engineers have an obligation to society, the public welfare and the profession. Although this is the law and this is something that engineers must always keep in the back of their heads, sometimes events don’t always go as planned.
The Concorde, …show more content…
Although only slightly damaged, rubble from the impairment is thrown against the wings which leads to an estrangement of the fifth fuel tank resulting in a devastating fire under the left wing. From this, the engineer onboard announces that engine 2 is gone. Once the aircraft is airborne, the crew turns off the second engine and only operates on idle power. The pilot immediately calls for the landing gear to be retracted, however, they notice that it will not retract. Flying at an altitude of 200 feet, as well as being unable to gain any additional height or speed, engine one is gone as well. In a few seconds after the engine failures the airplane crashes into a hotel. The engine’s fire alarm sounds off until chaos ensues. One hundred and nine people are killed in the …show more content…
Knowing this immediately poses the question: Did the engineer who was responsible for sketch the Concorde’s wheel system forget to include the important spacer in the design? The engineers at Air France evidently overlooked fixing these minute problems that would have saved a hundred innocent lives and an airline. Yet these very small problems will now irrevocably haunt them for their entire lives.
The fact that the design and the engineering team had known about these problems and had done nothing, raises huge ethical concerns. An engineer’s foremost obligation is to the public welfare and engineers must “approve only those designs that safeguard the life, health, welfare and property of the public” (Engineering Your Future 8Th ED). To have the nerve to not only deliberately not say anything about inherent problems within the craft or have the common sense to do a daily checkup of the aircraft prior to any takeoff is horrendous and
Within the confines of a single second your whole world can come crashing down. Throughout history, mankind has been met with sudden disasters at seemingly random turns from faulty bridges, to malfunctioning airplanes and unstable nuclear reactors.
Yet, upon examination of the disasters, investigators have uncovered that the seemingly random turn of events had, in reality, occurred as a result of slight mistakes made by the engineers and mechanics that designed the structures. Engineers have an obligation to society, the public welfare and the profession. Although this is the law and this is something that engineers must always keep in the back of their heads, sometimes events don’t always go as planned.
The Concorde, …show more content…
Although only slightly damaged, rubble from the impairment is thrown against the wings which leads to an estrangement of the fifth fuel tank resulting in a devastating fire under the left wing. From this, the engineer onboard announces that engine 2 is gone. Once the aircraft is airborne, the crew turns off the second engine and only operates on idle power. The pilot immediately calls for the landing gear to be retracted, however, they notice that it will not retract. Flying at an altitude of 200 feet, as well as being unable to gain any additional height or speed, engine one is gone as well. In a few seconds after the engine failures the airplane crashes into a hotel. The engine’s fire alarm sounds off until chaos ensues. One hundred and nine people are killed in the …show more content…
Knowing this immediately poses the question: Did the engineer who was responsible for sketch the Concorde’s wheel system forget to include the important spacer in the design? The engineers at Air France evidently overlooked fixing these minute problems that would have saved a hundred innocent lives and an airline. Yet these very small problems will now irrevocably haunt them for their entire lives.
The fact that the design and the engineering team had known about these problems and had done nothing, raises huge ethical concerns. An engineer’s foremost obligation is to the public welfare and engineers must “approve only those designs that safeguard the life, health, welfare and property of the public” (Engineering Your Future 8Th ED). To have the nerve to not only deliberately not say anything about inherent problems within the craft or have the common sense to do a daily checkup of the aircraft prior to any takeoff is horrendous and