Crisis Management for Malaysia Flight 370
Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak announced today that, according to new data, Malaysian Flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.
The Prime Minister said that analysis by a British company has concluded that the last position of flight MH370 was in the southern Indian Ocean.
"This is a remote location ... it is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.”
The plane's disappearance shortly after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur on a routine flight to Beijing has baffled investigators, who have yet to rule out mechanical or electrical failure, hijacking, sabotage, terrorism or issues related to the mental health of the pilots or someone else on board.
Family members were given the sad news via a text message.
During my tenure with the New York City Police Department as a Detective – Investigator, with responsibility for the daily crisis management for New York City, The Malaysian Government violated every rule in how to handle a crisis since this terrible incident occurred. The Malaysian Government should have taken the textbook example of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani on how to deal with the media and moreover, the families of the victims of a tragic incident.
From the beginning, the Malaysian Government and Malaysian Airlines took five hours to even admit that they had lost contact with flight MH370. Keeping the (distraught) family members in the dark.
When details began to emerge from news reports, these reports were revised as quickly as they were released. Family members only learned of the news from the media and not from the officials. Some of the misinformation that was released was that the search area was off the coast of Vietnam and another was that total contact was lost an hour into the flight, whereas there were indications that the plane had been tracked a lot longer.
It’s understandable to want to get information and details released, but misinformation is worse than no information.
Once it was discovered today that the plane’s journey ended in the South Indian Ocean, crisis management professionals should have known that the family members should have been privately briefed personally and shown all relevant information and details known, with counselors present and not notified via a text message. Shame on you, Malaysia and Mr. Prime Minister!
