INDE 410: Engineering Ethics

3.6 Case study: The Cali crash

Read the following case and then address the questions below and answer them in due time on
Moodle.

On December 20, 1993, American Airlines Flight 965 from Miami, FL to Cali, Colombia, crashed
into the Colombian mountains, killing 151 passengers and 8 crew members. You can learn more
about the ill-fated voyage here.

The flight had been delayed several hours due to storms and the busy Christmas schedule. The
pilots of the aircraft, Captain Nicholas Tafuri and First Officer Donald Williams, knew they had
to get their passengers to Cali as quickly as possible, otherwise they would be in trouble with their
airline company, American Airlines (AA). Delayed flights would lead to increased costs for AA.

During the flight, the pilots had to enter their destination. However, due to changes in their new
flight management software, the pilots confirmed the incorrect destination by mistake. The fact
that the pilots were trying to work as fast as possible to make up for the delay did not help matters.
So instead of going to Cali, their destination, they veered into the mountains and crashed.

It was later found out that the new flight management software, developed by an independent
engineering firm, had several new and advanced features that had not been clearly explained to
AA or to their pilots. Both AA and the pilots had gone through the full certification and training
procedures and the pilots were just using the software as they had been taught to use it.

1. Who is accountable here? Explain.

2. Who is to blame and to what extent? Justify your answer.
3. Who is liable and what type of liability is it, if any? Justify.
4. Is there a problem of many hands here? Explain why or why not.