Professional Engineer Files Complaint After Boeing Refuses Safety Upgrades

Many companies create budgets and do things to help cut back on expenses. That’s why layoffs are common. After all, operating a business can be quite costly. However, when cutbacks come at the expense of consumer safety, then it becomes an ethics issue.

Ethical issues can happen in any company and any industry, but they often arise in the engineering field. Safety improvements are sometimes rejected because they cost money to implement. This was the case at Boeing, at which a safety engineer and his team proposed various upgrades to 737 Max jets. The 33-year-old man filed a complaint against the airplane manufacturer in early 2019 and the complaint is being investigated as investigators try to figure out how two 737 Max jets crashed, killing hundreds of people.

Boeing decided not to implement the safety upgrades in an effort to reduce costs. Instead, the focus of the company was to boost profits by developing the 737 Max jets quickly to provide competition for the new Airbus plane. They overlooked internal safety concerns in order to manufacturer the plane quickly, but at what cost to human safety?

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) should have prevented the 737 Max jets from going onto the market without proper safety protocols. This issue is now part of a Department of Justice criminal investigation. According to the Boeing engineer who filed the complaint, if Boeing has added one of the systems that his team suggested, the two deadly crashes could have been prevented. The synthetic airspeed upgrade may have prevented MCAS from engaging. This likely would have prevented the repeated nosedives that ultimately led to the accidents.

Making matters worse is the fact that the FAA recently ordered new inspections on previous versions of 737 jets after Boeing recently informed the agency of possible structural cracks on the planes. Is Boeing failing to make the right decisions about safety and quality? It could be that it is more of a failure of the entire safety system as a whole, given that there are many defective and dangerous products on the market.

Companies have a difficult decision to make when it comes to adding features and incurring more costs. Obviously, no company wants to overspend, but there needs to be some compromise. It’s a balancing act, especially since many planes are already automated to some degree. So the question needs to be asked: Is it necessary to spend more money to make a product safer?

Keep Your License With Help From a Tampa Professional Engineers Licensing Lawyer

Like the man in this scenario, acting ethically should be the goal of all licensed professional engineers. The safety of the public should be the main priority.

However, some licensed professionals do not act ethically. Some people place profits over people, risking the health and safety of the public. Protect your license with help from Tampa professional engineers licensing lawyer David P. Rankin. He has represented more than 100 Professional Engineers before the Florida Board of Professional Engineers. He can assist you with any administrative issues you may face. Schedule a consultation by filling out the online form or calling (813) 968-6633.

Resource:

npr.org/2019/10/02/766568896/boeing-safety-engineer-filed-ethics-complaint-last-year-over-737-max-safety-upgr

https://www.davidrankinlaw.com/ethical-choices-in-the-engineering-field-not-always-so-clear/