The rise of social media has put more pressure than ever on comms professionals when it comes to managing a fast moving crisis situation.
But it can also be an amazingly powerful comms tool when used well.
Take a look at the extremely effective way the Twitter account of the McCarran International Airport (@LASairport) in Las Vegas got information to the media on Wednesday (10/9) about the fire on British Airways flight 2276.
The Boeing 777 was scheduled to take off at 4:05pm local time but when the plane reached a speed of around 90mph the decision to abort was taken.
At 4:13pm the captain made a mayday call to air traffic control requesting fire crews. Around a minute later he called again to say the aircraft was being evacuated.
By 4:18pm the plane was empty and the fire was out.
Just four minutes later @LASairport issued its first two tweets. It confirmed there had been a fire on a plane but that it had quickly been put out. It was also able to confirm all passengers were off the stricken plane and there were no known injuries at that stage.
This was clearly a very impressive start to any crisis handling – effectively breaking the story itself - and from there the account continued to drip feed information to journalists.
At 4.33pm it was able to give the numbers of passengers and crew of the airplane and add two people were being treated for minor injuries.
What was emerging was a clear plan to release as much information as possible to reduce the calls to the press office, inform passengers on other flights about any implications for their journeys and reassure relatives of the passengers on the plane.
A picture of the scene was issued just before 5pm and more details around specific timings of what had happened were tweeted 30 minutes later.
The steady flow of information continued until a press conference was help in the airport in the early evening.
In any crisis media management situation the media’s appetite for information can be insatiable, particularly in the early stages where there is a drive to secure as much detail as quickly as possible.
Imagine how many media calls the airport’s press office would have faced if had not very quickly been able to not only confirm there had been a fire which was now put out, but also exact information about the number of people on the plane and details of injuries.
Its quick actions also prevented the rumours and speculation you tend to see circulating on social media, and on 24 hour news channels, when the organisations involved do not take control and issue information quickly enough. We would, however, like to have seen some more information on the airport's website.
Planning crisis comms involves learning from what other organisations have done well and where things could have been handled better – McCarran Airport’s rapid use of social media in this crisis is an example others should certainly take on board.
Media First are media and communications training specialists with over 30 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers. To find out more about our highly practical social media training courses, contact us here.
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