Yesterday was an interesting news day for those of us with an interest in manufacturing and R & D.

Having been to San Andres Island a few years ago, I was amazed yesterday when I heard of the plane crash there where a Boeing 737 missed the runway, crashed and broke into three pieces with only one indirect fatality. A similar incident in Toronto in the recent past also resulted in the passengers being able to safely get off of the plane. Lighter, stronger bodies, fire retardant materials and safer seats are credited with saving lives in both incidents.

If you have ever watched the show Mayday, you'll know that it investigates accidents and passes on its findings to airlines and manufacturers in order that they can fix defaults and add additional safety features to future designs. It would seem that each time there's an accident we learn from our mistakes and improve the product for future users.

 The aerospace industry is crucial in providing the safe and reliable transportation which moves millions of us each year. Ongoing improvements to the design and safety features of airplanes have saved many more lives than may have been the case in earlier flying generations. For those of us who consider flying as a regular activity it is comfortable to know that mistakes of the past are likely not to re-occur.

The aerospace industry needs to provide safe and dependable product as millions of lives depend on them to do so but so do other industries. We learned that BPA in baby bottles was not safe and its removal made that product safer. We are also learning that we might need to look for better ways to avoid BPA in other products such as pop cans and canned food items, offering another challenge to those in R & D in food and beverage processing.

It is clear that accidents can and do spur on new thinking as does the identification of other risks as hazardous to human health. That being said, I'm looking forward to my next flight in September in a safe, reliable aircraft - and I very much appreciate the experienced pilot at the controls. After all, what's a safe plane without one of those……? Maybe that's another blog for another day.

If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact me at carol@workforceplanningboard.com