Let us put the situation to the test of Kant’s Categorical Imperative. “The only thing GOOD about the act is the WILL, the GOOD WILL. That will is to do our DUTY. What is our duty? It is our duty to act in such a manner that we would want everyone else to act in a similar manner in similar circumstances towards all other people.” (http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/socialsciences/ppecorino/intro_text/Chapter%208%20Ethics/Categorical_Imperative.htm) So let’s put this to the test- would I want Delta’s (or any other country’s) computer programmer to just do his job and not stop millions of people dying? Of coarse I would want him to stop the launch, and thus I, using CI should stop the launch. But would these actions be fulfilling my duty? Using Kant’s principals I believe it would because my duty would not be just a computer programmer, but our duty is to act in such a manner that we would want everyone else to act.
These entirely two different actions would definitely put the strict deontologist at odds with Immanuel Kant’s philosophy. Not so much in doing our duty, as using the philosophy to determine WHAT is our duty. If I truly am the computer programmer in this scenario, I would definitely