The Crash of Valu Jet 592 PDF

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Jathon Thomas 04/05/2017 Sociology 320: Deviant Behavior Written Assignment#2 1) The difference between state facilitated state corporate crime and state initiated state corporate crimes is the level of involvement the state has within the crime, and the actions they take and don’t take in corporate and state situations. If a situation is considered a state facilitated state corporate crime it means that the government didn’t get involved with the construction of the crime but ignored the problem while it was occurring, and allowed the corporations to proceed pass regulations. If a situation is labeled as a state initiated state corporate crime it means that the state government related agency had direct involvement with the crime, and gained profits from the crime committed, even though there is a clear problem with the plan that may harm society. In the case of The ValuJet 592 crash, the government omitted and ignored that the flight was not regulated and allowed it to fly without taking any actions, therefore since the government didn’t have any commission ties with the crash it would be labeled as a state facilitated state corporate crime. 2) The “lean and mean” management style used at ValuJet required them to be as cheap as possible, and gain as much of a profit as they could. This tactic involved low-priced airfares, underpaid workers, and out-sourcing for profit. They also bought old aircrafts that required maintenance and inspections that they allowed the cheapest technicians to conduct. The cheap outsourcing led to ValuJet hiring the lowest bidder for its maintenance, and overseers that didn’t do their jobs, which led to the work not being done properly. The work wasn’t done properly in terms of the material being packed and

stored, which caused the material to heat up and explode which was the cause of the crash of ValuJet flight 592. 3) The contract between SabreTech and ValuJet was for SabreTech to conduct maintenance on the planes, along with the maintenance SabreTech was to remove old oxygen generators and replace them with new oxygen generators from the two contracted aircrafts within the time stated. ValuJet was required by Federal Aviation Regulations to have people oversee and train the people working on the aircraft. However, because the technicians weren’t told what to do since the generators didn’t have any caps, the generators were packaged assuming ValuJet would resolve that issue. Since each company didn’t responsibly instruct their workers the generators exploded upon ValuJet flight 592. 4) The “dual duties” of the FAA were to regulate airline safety, and promote the airline industry. In this case they would have to oversee the ValuJet employers and the SabreTech technicians to make sure they are following all the rules of the federal aviation regulations. They would also have to promote to the public the value of the ValuJet airlines, to prove that air travel was a valuable and competitive industry. Deregulation of the 1980’s made it to be as if airlines didn’t compete any more but instead were forced into working together. A lot of companies went bankrupt and the FAA where looking for new ways to promote “the economic success of the airline industry as a whole”. The FAA’s interest in ValuJet’s success gave ValuJet leeway to ignoring normal regulations. Since the FAA had the duties of inspecting the plane maintenance and promoting the economic success of the airline industry, the two jobs started to provide structural conflict

and their role of promoting the airline industry caused them to overlook the situation of the oxygen generators, which caused the crash of ValuJet flight 592. 5)

Covert institutional violence (CIV) is when everyday lives are violated by the normal everyday functioning of institutions. This practice is hidden from the public and is structured by big corporations not just an individual person. The crash of ValuJet 592 is an example of CIV, because the ValuJet committed acts daily that weren’t fit for regulatory standards, and the FAA continued to let them slide by with a lower or without punishment. 110 people such as the pilot and crew died because these institutions continued to do what they had been doing and taking the easy way out. This everyday deviance caused these deaths in ValuJet 592.

6) I believe the FAA is most responsible for the crash, because of their failure to follow the

Federal Aviation Regulations, to promote the economic success of the industry. Even though ValuJet was responsible for the caps not being stored properly, the FAA was responsible to make sure ValuJet did go by the book. Karl Marx says that our world is controlled and structured by bourgeoisie under a capitalist system. The researchers said that the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 “rather than an increase in the competition between airlines, deregulation has resulted in increased consolidation and decreased competition.” Which drove the FAA “to promote the growth of start-ups like ValuJet” and made the success of ValuJet “…important to the FAA”. (Matthew, Kauzlarich, 2000, pg.323)With this research an taking a Marxian look at the situation I can conclude that the FAA was most responsible because of their choice of profits over people....