The Boeing 737 MAX: Lessons for Engineering Ethics Online PDH Course

The Boeing 737 MAX: Lessons for Engineering Ethics Online PDH Course is a part of the Ethics, Laws and Rules category of courses. The course is based on and adopted from article “The Boeing 737 MAX: Lessons for Engineering Ethics” by Joseph Herkert, Jason Borenstein, and Keith Miller.

The crash of two 737 MAX passenger aircraft in late 2018 and early 2019, and subsequent grounding of the entire fleet of 737 MAX jets, turned a global spotlight on Boeing’s practices and culture. Explanations for the crashes include: design flaws within the MAX’s new flight control software system designed to prevent stalls; internal pressure to keep pace with Boeing’s chief competitor, Airbus; Boeing’s lack of transparency about the new software; and the lack of adequate monitoring of Boeing by the FAA, especially during the certification of the MAX and following the first crash. While these and other factors have been the subject of numerous government reports and investigative journalism articles, little to date has been written on the ethical significance of the accidents, in particular the ethical responsibilities of the engineers at Boeing and the FAA involved in designing and certifying the MAX. Lessons learned from this case include the need to strengthen the voice of engineers within large organizations. There is also the need for greater involvement of professional engineering societies in ethics-related activities and for broader focus on moral courage in engineering ethics education.

This course is intended for all engineer and other design and construction professionals.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:

• List the factors that led to the two crashes
• Describe the ethical issues around the events that led to the incidents
• Describe the responsibilities of organizations to strengthen the voice of engineers within large organizations
• Understand the need for greater involvement of professional engineering societies in ethics-related activities
• Understand the need for a broader focus on moral courage in engineering ethics education

Course Quiz

To receive the certificate of completion for the above 2 PDH online course, you will need to take a 10-question multiple choice quiz based on the reference material supplied and pass with minimum score of 70%. There is no time limit for the quiz and it can be taken multiple times until a passing score of 70% is achieved.

Certificate of Completion

Once you achieve a passing score of 70% on the quiz you will receive and be able to print your Certificate of Completion as a record of your continuing education. PDH Star will keep a record of your certificate for the duration as required by your state of licensure. You will be able to log on to your account and view and print your past Certificate of Completion.

State Acceptance

The above course is accepted in all states. For detailed state by state requirements click here.