One Year After Valujet Crash

On May 11, 1996, at 1413:42 eastern daylight time, a Douglas DC-9-32 crashed into the Everglades about 10 minutes after takeoff from Miami International Airport, Miami, Florida. The airplane was being operated by ValuJet Airlines, Inc., as flight 592 and was on its way to Atlanta, Georgia. Both pilots, the three flight attendants, and all 105 passengers were killed. The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the accident, was a fire in the airplane's cargo compartment that was initiated by the actuation of one or more oxygen generators being improperly carried as cargo.

Applied ethics has been gaining wide attention in a variety of curriculums, and there is growing awareness of the need for ethical training in general. Well-publicized ethical problems such as the Challenger disaster, the Ford Pinto case and the collapse of corporations such as Enron have highlighted the need to rethink the role of ethics in the workplace. The concept of applied ethics originated in medicine with a groundbreaking book published in 1979. Business ethics books began to appear in the 1980s, with engineering ethics following in the 1990s. This volume now opens up a new area of applied ethics, comprehensively addressing the ethical issues confronting the civil aviation industry. Aviation is unique in two major ways: firstly it has a long history of government regulations, and secondly its primary focus is the safety of its passengers and crew. For decades commercial aviation was viewed in the same manner as public utilities, and thus it was highly regulated by the government. Since the Deregulation Act of 1978, aviation has been viewed as any other business while other experts continue to believe that the sudden switch to deregulation has caused problems, especially since many airlines were unprepared for the change. Ethical Issues in Aviation focuses on current concerns and trends, to reflect the changes that have occurred in this deregulated era. The book provides the reader with an overview of the major themes in civil aviation ethics. It begins with theoretical frameworks, followed by sections on the business side of aviation, employee responsibility, diversity in aviation, ground issues regarding airports, air traffic control and security, as well as health and the environment. The contributors to the volume include both academics doing research in the field as well as professionals who provide accounts of the ethical situations that arise in the workplace.

Captain Power-Waters covers every aspect of commercial aviation and brings the reader to the conclusion that it is a much more perilous means of transportation than generally suspected. Most of the material in this book has never been touched upon in any previous book on air safety. The following are a few of the subjects that are documented in this book: There are no U.S. airports that have adequate firefighting procedures. Mechanically impaired airliners are allowed to fly when, in reality, they should be grounded. The flushing of an airline toilet has imperiled the lives of passengers aboard the plane and people on the ground. The air traffic control system is near collapse caused by the "bumbling" FAA. Airline pilots are not thoroughly trained to recover from all modes of flight. The Boeing 737 is the most popular airliner ever built, but it is potentially the most dangerous. "Captain Power-Waters brings an understanding and appreciation of Air Traffic control from two perspectives: as a pilot operating within the system; and as someone who possesses a vast knowledge of the ATC's work." -William A. Faville, Jr., National Air TrafficControllers Association, President MKC. "If you are interested in the training of an airline captain, if you think your airline is safe, or if you think the FAA is totally interested in your safety, this is the book for you." -Carl T. Butterworth, Senior Captain, American Airlines, Ret. Brig. Gen., ANG. "You obviously have done an extensive job researching this topic, and more importantly, it is clear you have lived the issues. I congratulate you on your effort." -Robert Roach, Jr., General Vice President, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.