Fall 1996 Articles

Disaster Recovery Journal

Volume 9, Issue 4
Fall 1996

The Perspective of Ed Devlin

The DRJ Conference

The DRJ Conference in Atlanta appears to have been a great success. Based on the attendees critique forms, they felt the speakers did an excellent job. Also, many of the attendees conveyed that they were able to network better at this conference than at any of the other past DRJ conferences because the attendees (and vendors) were so friendly.

Disaster Update-Hurricane Fran

Hurricane Fran came ashore at Cape Fear, N.C. This is where Hurricane Bertha made landfall in July.
•North Carolina took the brunt of Fran’s force, both in lives lost and property damaged. Fourteen of the deaths attributed to the storm were in North Carolina.
•South Carolina, with memories of Hugo’s devastation in 1989 still fresh in their minds, evacuated tens of thousands of people from the waterfront communities. January. Fortunately, Fran moved away from South Carolina, lessening the effects on the state.
•Virginia was inundated with rain from the tropical storm, resulting in power outages and heavy flooding. The James River was expected to crest at 25 feet over flood stage in the Richmond area. The Potomac River affected Alexandria and the outskirts of Washington, D.C. •West Virginia also suffered from flooding due to heavy rains. Harpers Ferry expected the Potomac River to crest at 32 feet above flood stage. Most of the flooding was in 25 buildings at the Harpers Ferry National Historic Park in Lower Town. This is the same area that was damaged by floods earlier in January.

TWA Flight 800 Crash-
Potential Cause

The Sunday prior to the DRJ conference, an article was published in the Atlanta Journal indicating that American Airlines pilot saw a missile pass by his jetliner in flight. The article went on to say that the report fits a scenario that is one of the theories under consideration in the TWA Flight 800 explosion. The National Transportation Safety Board said the pilot, on an August 29 American Airlines flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Boston, said he saw a missile pass his Boeing 757 as it flew over Wallops Island, VA. The island, where the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has a program for unmanned research rockets, is about 220 miles south of the TWA crash site.

TWA Flight 800 Crash-
Crisis Management

Speaking of the TWA crash, this is a perfect example of the “Lessons Learned” following a disaster. The airline has been the subject of much criticism for the way they handled the early reports. I have to disagree with much of the criticism heaped on TWA because they appeared to be following two of the basic procedures recommended by the Crisis Management experts, namely: 1) establish the facts, and 2) tell your story. They wanted to establish the facts before they told their story, but the politicians led the media down the wrong path. Certain politicians wanted the “who, what, and why” reports to be issued immediately, long before any of the information could be verified. To further complicate matters, there was a report that TWA was also following the “suggestions” of government officials who didn’t want any reports issued using speculation or unreliable information until the government officials could verify what happened. Unfortunately, the families of individuals on the plane were the victims a second time because they received mixed signals; from the politicians requesting that information be forthcoming immediately, and from the airline trying to establish the facts before telling the story.

Crisis Management-
Valujet Airlines

Valujet’s executives have had their hands full trying to get the airlines flying since they voluntarily suspended flights on June 17, 1996. This move was in response to the findings of “several serious deficiencies” by the FAA, who was inspecting all of their planes after the crash of Flight 592 in the Florida Everglades. The airline executives hoped to have their planes back in the air within 30 days, but with just 15 planes serving about 10 cities. As of September 13, 1996 the airline had not yet resumed service.

Terrorism

A jury in New York City found Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, Abdul Hakim Murad and Wali Khan Amin Shah guilty on all seven charges related to the scheme to bomb 12 American passenger jets over Asia. The prosecutors called the plot “48 hours of terror in the sky.” The three will receive their sentences on December 5, 1996. Yousef will also stand trial soon for his alleged role in recruiting personnel and mixing the explosives for the February 26, 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.

Terrorism- Olympic Park

The bomber responsible for the death of Alice Hawthorne, and the injuries to 100 people at the park including Ms. Hawthorne’s daughter, Fallon, has not been found. During an impromptu survey before the Tuesday general session, only four hands were raised when I asked who believed that the security guard did it. An estimated 600 people were indicating that they didn’t believe he did it. If he didn’t do it, there should be more than just an apology from the FBI.

I look forward to seeing y’all at the San Diego Conference in March.

Ed Devlin is Senior Vice President with Strohl Systems.

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Last Updated--Thursday, Oct 24, 1996.