My Take on the Ethics Behind the Aviation World

Ethics has several definitions available to it according the Merriam-Webster's dictionary. However, the one I am choosing to represent is: A set of principals that dictate the actions of a group or an individual (Merriam-Webster, 2021). My interpretation of this is the concept of a personal moral compass. This idea resonates with me due to my experiences within the aviation world as a maintainer. One of the sayings that has always been drilled into our head is "Do the right thing, even when no one is watching."  Another is "by the book" maintenance. It is easy to become deafened to the importance of your work because of the repetitive nature of the job and that equipment/ parts are replaceable. Another tire changed, another antenna sealed, these things can encourage complacent attitudes to easily form. Right? But what about the lives of the pilots and crew that are dependent on the ability of the maintainers to complete these tasks correctly every time? The question I always asked is: What if the action I failed to do correctly is the one that puts our aircraft into the ground? Could I live with that? Perspective is an important part of the ethical equation because it can assign a different value of importance to what you affect with your decisions. A life's value verses a part's value for instance. This idea plays a large role in the world of aviation due to the inherent dangers present to the field, as well as the human factor that can add to or subtract from those dangers. There are several examples of this mentioned in the format of case studies in, Patankar references an inspector "Joe" that relays his experiences as an inspector and above all he expresses the importance of a strong code of ethics to do the right thing (Patankar et al., 2020). This line of thought applies to both the present and future people involved in the aviation profession, because at the end of the day lives truly are at stake.


The photo is from the 2016 deployment I was a part of.

References: 

Patankar, M. S., Brown, J. P., & Treadwell, M. D. (2020). Safety ethics: cases from aviation, healthcare and occupational and environmental health. Routledge.

Ethic. 2021. In Merriam-Webster.com.

Retrieved July 8, 2021, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethic

US Navy - Strike Fighter Squadron 97 (STRKFITRON 97). VFA-97 Warhawks Strike Fighter Squadron F/A-18E Super Hornet US Navy. (n.d.). https://www.seaforces.org/usnair/VFA/Strike-Fighter-Squadron-97.htm.

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