Case Study #5 Space Shuttle Challenger Explosion

Case Study #7 – Ford - Firestone (Revised 25 January 2009)

Background

On August 9, 2000, Ford and Firestone announced a recall of over 6 million Wilderness AT tires. Numerous blowouts and rollovers occurred on Ford Explorers equipped with the AT tires. For this case study, you are employed by an engineering firm that has been hired by an insurance company. Your job is to investigate the large number of claims involving SUVs that have rolled over after tire tread separation. Of course you and your company have signed all of the appropriate non-disclosure agreements (NDA).

Your tasks for this case study are as follows:

1) Determine if the rollover troubles only occurred with the Ford Explorer 2) Discuss the technical issues that you think helped cause the rollover problems 3) Explore the reactions of Ford and Firestone to the rollover problem

Further tasks will be assigned as the quarter progresses. They will involve discussing the following: (a) citing the NDA, the insurance company states that you may not report any of the information you have found, (b) instead of working for an insurance company, you work for Ford – how would you handle this situation?

References http://www.citizen.org/autosafety/suvsafety/ford_frstone/