Assignment 1

O Read, complete and submit exercise 1 on pages 43 - 44

or your responses it is expected that you provide:
*Thoughtful, complete and detailed responses with examples along with a justification on why you said what
you said
*Provide unbiased research-based responses You may use online library resource called EBSCO host and or
other authentic resources to do your research Personal opinions are okay as long as the evidence is authentic
and from unbiased research-based Note: Wikipedia is not necessarily and/or always an authentic research
resource
*Establish link, use and application of concepts learned from your textbook
*Use APA styles for writing your responses
*Review your responses for spelling, grammatical errors, etc prior to your submission
*Submit your responses by the DUE DATE
!nstructions: Enter or paste your written work and/or click "Attachments" to upload your files.
Exercise:

1. The following article appeared in the Washington Post (Associated Press 1336)

lLC1'S CCMu1L8 L88CL Cl1Lu ln LAnL C8ASP
AML8lCAn Al8LlnLS SA?S CnLLL11L8 CCuL WAS 8LASCn CCuL !L1 Pl1 MCun1Aln ln CCLCM8lA

uallas Aug 23 1he capLaln of an Amerlcan Alrllnes [eL LhaL crashed ln Colombla lasL uecember enLered
an lncorrecL oneleLLer compuLer command LhaL senL Lhe plane lnLo a mounLaln Lhe alrllne sald Loday

1he crash kllled all buL four of Lhe 163 people aboard
Amerlcan's lnvesLlgaLors concluded LhaL Lhe capLaln of Lhe 8oelng 737 apparenLly LhoughL he
had enLered Lhe coordlnaLes for Lhe lnLended desLlnaLlon Call
8uL on mosL SouLh Amerlcan aeronauLlcal charLs Lhe oneleLLer code for Call ls Lhe same as Lhe
one for 8ogoLa 132 mlles ln Lhe opposlLe dlrecLlon
1he coordlnaLes for 8ogoLa dlrecLed Lhe plane Loward Lhe mounLaln accordlng Lo a leLLer by
Cecll Lwell Amerlca's chlef plloL and vlce presldenL for fllghL 1he codes for 8ogoLa and Call are dlfferenL
ln mosL compuLer daLabases Lwell sald
Amerlcan spokesman !ohn PoLard conflrmed LhaL Lwell's leLLer flrsL reporLed ln Lhe uallas
Mornlng news ls belng dellvered Lhls week Lo all of Lhe alrllne's plloLs Lo warn Lhem of Lhe codlng
problem
Amerlcan's dlscovery also prompLed Lhe lederal AvlaLlon AdmlnlsLraLlon Lo lssue a bulleLln Lo all
alrllnes warnlng Lhem of lnconslsLencles beLween some compuLer daLabases and aeronauLlcal charLs
Lhe newspaper sald
1he compuLer error ls noL Lhe flnal word on whaL caused Lhe crash 1he Colomblan governmenL
ls lnvesLlgaLlng and ls expecLed Lo release lLs flndlngs by CcLober
aL Carlseo spokesman for Lhe naLlonal 1ransporLaLlon SafeLy 8oard sald Colomblan
lnvesLlgaLors also are examlnlng facLors such as fllghL crew Lralnlng and alr Lrafflc conLrol
1he compuLer mlsLake was found by lnvesLlgaLors for Amerlcan when Lhey compared daLa from
Lhe [eL's navlgaLlon compuLer wlLh lnformaLlon from Lhe wreckage Lwell sald
1he daLa showed Lhe mlsLake wenL undeLecLed for 66 seconds whlle Lhe crew scrambled Lo
follow and alr Lrafflc conLroller's orders Lo Lake a more dlrecL approach Lo Lhe Call alrporL
1hree mlnuLes laLer whlle Lhe plane sLlll as descendlng and Lhe crew Lrylng Lo flgure ouL why Lhe
plane had Lurned lL crashed
Lwell sald Lhe crash presenLed Lwo lmporLanL lessons for plloLs
llrsL of all no maLLer how many Llmes you go Lo SouLh Amerlca or any oLher place1he 8ocky
MounLalns you can never never never assume anyLhlng" Pe Lold Lhe newspaper Second he sald
plloLs musL undersLand Lhey can'L leL auLomaLlon Lake over responslblllLy for flylng Lhe alrplane

1 ls Lhls arLlcle evldence LhaL we have a sofLware crlsls? Pow ls avlaLlon beLLer off because of sofLware
englneerlng? WhaL lssues should be addresses durlng sofLware developmenL so LhaL problems llke Lhls
wlll be prevenLed ln Lhe fuLure?