Newly released footage from a dash-mounted camera shows that firefighters at the scene of last year's Asiana airlines crash at San Francisco International Airport were aware of the position of the victim who was later killed by being run over by two fire trucks. The film and the attendant media coverage offer some interesting lessons in crisis management.
The first is that nothing is truly confidential anymore. The San Francisco Chronicle is saying only that it received the footage from "a source." Because the footage was not released by the San Francisco Fire Department, there was no opportunity to create a context and now the department will be playing catch up.
Context is important because the Chronicle article based on the footage raises some embarrassing questions about on-scene procedures and witness testimony at the recent National Transportation Safety Board hearings. For example,
- Why was the victim's location not marked with a casualty flag?
- Why her vitals not checked?
- Why were the drivers working without spotters?
- Why does the fire officer who claimed to have been directing rigs around the victim not appear in the footage?
There are possible explanations for all these questions but they have been asked before and are still unanswered. They will no doubt be raised again at a civil trial and the Department is most likely not responding to them on the advice of the City Attorney. There may also be issues related to the camera footage itself - the source stipulated that the Chronicle not post it online because of its graphic nature - that prevented its release. But the public can't know this unless you tell them. Withholding all comments is not the best way to deal with public concern.
Comments