When it comes to the tragic air collision over Washington DC last week between a CRJ-700 passenger jet and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter, I can help a little. In my 27-year Royal Navy career I was neither a helicopter pilot nor an air traffic controller: but I was a Fighter Controller for a while. My job was to direct fighter jets to intercept enemy aircraft and to do this, I had to pass various Air Traffic Control (ATC) exams. I also qualified as a helicopter controller along the way, so all in all I’ve spent a lot of time looking at radar screens with a headset on and talking to pilots.
I later moved on to handle crisis communications for the Navy, which sometimes involved handling the release of information following major accidents or disasters. Since leaving the service I’ve spent a lot of time training CEOs on how to do this when their companies have such problems in the commercial world.
So, this I know. In the aftermath of a crisis, particularly one resulting in fatalities, whoever is in charge has three things to do: console, reassure and inform.
The first part is to console the families. This is the most important part and requires a mix of speed, but not haste, accuracy and empathy. The second most important part is to reassure: to make it clear that despite this terrible tragedy, those conducting similar activities are not in immediate danger. This requires an understanding of the systems involved and the assurance that an investigation is already underway to find out why they didn’t this time so that lessons can be learned as soon as possible.
When it comes to the tragic air collision over Washington DC last week between a CRJ-700 passenger jet and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter, I can help a little. In my 27-year Royal Navy career I was neither a helicopter pilot nor an air traffic controller: but I was a Fighter Controller for a while. My job was to direct fighter jets to intercept enemy aircraft and to do this, I had to pass various Air Traffic Control (ATC) exams. I also qualified as a helicopter controller along the way, so all in all I’ve spent a lot of time looking at radar screens with a headset on and talking to pilots.
I later moved on to handle crisis communications for the Navy, which sometimes involved handling the release of information following major accidents or disasters. Since leaving the service I’ve spent a lot of time training CEOs on how to do this when their companies have such problems in the commercial world.
So, this I know. In the aftermath of a crisis, particularly one resulting in fatalities, whoever is in charge has three things to do: console, reassure and inform.
The first part is to console the families. This is the most important part and requires a mix of speed, but not haste, accuracy and empathy. The second most important part is to reassure: to make it clear that despite this terrible tragedy, those conducting similar activities are not in immediate danger. This requires an understanding of the systems involved and the assurance that an investigation is already underway to find out why they didn’t this time so that lessons can be learned as soon as possible.