Sometime in June 1967, B.F Goodrich received a contract from LTV Aerospace Corp. to build a four rotor brake system for the new Air Force A7D light attack aircraft. Winning the contract from the government was very big thing for B.F. Goodrich. They had received an order to design and build 202 assemblies. B.F Goodrich was given a year to design, build, and test the four – rotor brake system. Two weeks were allocated at the end of June 1968 for testing. Within a few weeks of receiving the order, a company’s engineer, Searle Lawson, designs, builds, and test the system. Once the brake system is assembled, the system is tested and all tests fail crucial temperature tests.
During next 10 months the system goes through 14 different test and each test fails. On the fourteenth and final test, which was conducted in May of 1968, Lawson was instructed by his supervisors to qualify the brake system no matter what. Upon the qualification of the system, another BF Goodrich engineer, Kermit Vandivier, is asked to qualify the system. Vandivier examines the safety reports and refuses to qualify the brake system due to too many irregularities in the testing method. Even after so much protest Vandivier is forced to write a qualifying report.
During the next few weeks the Air Force realizes that the report was falsified report and demands the raw test data from BF Goodrich. When the test date came in June of 1968 all test fail and Lawson and Vandivier are told by their attorney that they can be charged with conspiracy. Both BF Goodrich Engineers talk to the FBI and discuss their stories. Even after the test are conducted and four – rotor brake system fails for safety, BF Goodrich management force Lawson and Vandivier to lie to the government.
In October of 1968 Vandivier resign from BF Goodrich giving an effective date of November 1, but is dismissed immediately due is lack of respect for the company. In August of 1969 BF Goodrich is charges against BF Goodrich are announced by a congressional committee.
The main ethical issue in the case was that the managers were so afraid of missing their targets that they forced the engineers to falsify information. BF Goodrich engineers did not take enough time to properly design, build and test the brake system. Had they taken the time to properly design the system no one would have to break the code of ethics and everyone would have been happy.
If I was an engineer responsible for testing the system, I would have not waited a year to blow the whistle on the BF Goodrich. Yes, it is true that no lives were lost during the testing but the companies name was ruined. I would tell the government about the internal problems but I would go up the chain of command and address the issues.
A sample of the article is posted at the following website.
http://www.engineering.com/Library/ArticlesPage/tabid/85/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/70/BF-Goodrich.aspx
The whole article can be purchased at the following website.
http://www.harpers.org/archive/1972/04/0021446
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