The AS9100 Standard: Further Ensuring Safe and Comfortable Flights (Demo)

THE AS9100 STANDARD: FURTHER ENSURING SAFE AND COMFORTABLE FLIGHTS (DEMO)

While Aretha Franklin’s voice easily soars above others, the legendary singer prefers a more “grounded” approach when traveling, as this article from Yahoo! OMG reports: aretha-franklin-and-other-celebrities-who-have-fear-of-flying “American Idol” may come calling, but Aretha Franklin won’t be flying. The Queen of Soul has publicly thrown her name in the hat as a possible “Idol” judge, but there’s one slight problem: The songbird doesn’t like to fly. So when “Today” show host Kathie Lee Gifford and E! correspondent Jason Kennedy chitchatted on the air about Franklin’s fear of flying, the Queen got testy. In an email obtained by CNN, Franklin wrote: “While I enjoy Kathie Lee and Hoda daily, her assessment is totally wrong! I’ve been to California from Detroit four times this year and Florida. I go wherever I choose to go comfortably on my custom bus.” In fact, the Queen of Soul’s fear of flying was so bad she once had to cancel an engagement with another queen—Queen Elizabeth II of England. Of course, the prevalence of aviophobia isn’t exactly surprising: the media’s coverage of aviation mishaps skews people’s opinions of air travel, while documentaries about ill-fated flights exacerbate these fears. In reality though, you’re 23 times more likely to crash your car than to experience a plane crash; if you have no other recourse but to fly, the National Transportation Safety Board gives you a very favorable 95% chance of survival. You might not believe it, but riding a plane is no more dangerous than riding an elevator. Indeed, traveling by air has become increasingly safer and the AS9100 standard plays an important part in this improvement. An offshoot of the ISO 9001 quality standard, AS9100 was developed to apply the same stringent quality requirements to the aviation industry. Companies produce a hand book that offers best-practices for contracting suppliers, testing the strength of airplane materials, ensuring that tools and machines are properly calibrated—everything that goes into making top-notch and safe aircrafts. Once the quality managements system (QMS) manual is ready, companies then contract external auditors like International Standards Authority, Inc. (ISA) to verify the soundness of the plan and grant AS9100 certification if it qualifies. With such strict demands for quality, it’s not surprising that 2012 was deemed the safest year to travel by air in the history of aviation. For the millions of people who cringe at the thought of boarding a plane, you can now lay your fears to rest.   (Article Excerpt and Image from Aretha Franklin and Other Celebrities Who Have a Fear of Flying, Yahoo! OMG, July 18, 2012)