The year 1979! A passenger airplane is all set for a sightseeing flight to Antarctica from New Zealand and back. The pilots never doubted that some could have changed flight coordinates by 2 degrees only. A minor error with the coordination took the airplane almost 45 km or 28 miles east of where they assumed to be. As they reached Antarctica, pilots neared the plane to the grounds to facilitate passengers with a better view of the landscape. However, they didn’t realize that the flawed coordinate is actually taking them directly towards the Mount Erebus, a 12,000 feet active volcano. Reflection from the frozen surface of the Mount Erebus and white cloud made it almost impossible for pilots to understand what plight awaits them. Soon the automated machineries gave them signal of the steadily rising landscape ahead of them but it was already late by then. Not a single life on board survived the clash.

This tragic incident immediately points out the importance of process control and immediate corrective actions in the quality management domain, irrespective of differences in industries.

Errors, no matter how small they are, or escape from meeting the quality standards perfectly may introduce dire consequences to both professional and personal lives. Quite naturally, to avoid such threatening situations, we need to become more sincere and self-disciplined towards fulfilling our duties perfectly in every discipline of life. Waiting for the erroneous actions to get corrected automatically or expecting someone else to correct them for us would only make things more complex.

Longer is the delay in implementing the corrective measures larger the need for addressing the problem in a more substantial and comprehensive manner. The delay with opting for corrective actions can sometimes alarmingly increase magnitude of the disaster.

All of us have been entrusted with a great authority and responsibility. And it is our responsibility as well that we live up to these expectations when we quickly recognize the safety or quality issues and influences that makes us deviate from our standard and requirements and we take an immediate action and make decisive corrections that will bring the project back on course.

It is necessary to recognize the critical issues at the earliest. Accordingly, a plan of action should be followed to make the required corrections for keeping the project at the right course. Minor changes may create the major difference as those aspects become the guidelines to reach the desired goal. Ultimately, the pleasure of making the correct decisions in terms of process control and immediate correction actions is beyond comprehension. It is worth putting forward such effort as implementation of decisive corrections ensures overall organizational success, while staying on the right course.

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