Emergency Planning
can be objectively assessed, analysed and Consider that the very nature of the
crafted into a plan that will ultimately see transportation business (airlines, ships,
the corporation, its people, customers and trains, busses) involves the primary assets
shareholders through that critical emer- constantly moving from place to place as
gency period, NO MATTER WHAT THE they transport millions of people daily. They
DURATION. The plan should serve as a represent a target rich environment for
baseline to continually update, test and terrorists, other criminals, disruptive groups
revise as the threat environment evolves. with varying agendas and emotionally dis-
Regardless of whether you are a city, state, turbed or mentally unstable individuals.
national government or corporation, the Any disastrous, and certainly terrorist,
standards and requirements are consistent. event can have a major impact on a nation’s
With respect to corporations, some have economy, critical infrastructure and way of
begun to initiate programmes. Many have life. Remember the length of time it took for
not, but they should. Corporate responsibil- the public to regain confidence in air travel
ity starts with the stakeholders but includes after 9/11?
management, employees, customers and Terrorist acts notwithstanding, how an
the community. The development of an airline handles events such as crashes can
emergency management strategy, besides have long term implications to its reputation
being the “Right thing to do”, is a legal duty. which can ultimately impact its bottom line.
That strategy plan ensures the protection Crashes are a reality in the business and
of life and property It also supports have a certain level or range of frequency.
the organisation from litigation. The related There were 28 air crashes in 2005 and so
security aspects of the plan are also criti- far (late March at the time of writing) there
cal. have been 25 in 2006. Some of the more
The risks to most major organisations well known are:
have grown dramatically in recent years and • August 2005 Air France Airbus 340 in
they are increasing daily. That fact must not Toronto Canada
be overlooked or downplayed in today’s • August 2005 Helios Airways B737 in
environment. Grammatikos, Greece
Simply put, we are talking about a process • August 2005 West Caribbean Airways
of assessment, planning and validation while MD82 in Machiques, Venezuela
providing safety and security. • December 2005 Southwest Airlines B737
The foregoing points are fundamental and in Chicago, Illinois
applicable to any organisation. That fact • December 2005 Chalks Ocean Airways,
was again reinforced during our Emergency Grumman Mallard in Miami, Florida
Planning Operation for the National Football • February 2006 UPS DC8 in Philadelphia,
League (NFL) Super Bowl game in Detroit, Pennsylvania
Michigan. Each city hosting the event has • March 2006 Air Algerie B737 in Sevilla
unique characteristics, issues and chal-
lenges. Detroit had major international Air crashes, along with other disasters where
security implications because of its high mass casualties occur, bring immediate and
profile and proximity to the Canadian border required government attention, focus and
as opposed to what we encountered in oversight. That is true of most nations. This
Jacksonville, Florida the previous year. Both is an established fact with carriers and they
the US and Canadian governments worked work to handle it accordingly.
closely to identify and address necessary Unfortunately, in many cases, it brings
security needs and coordinate planning the immediate media focus and sometimes
with the emergency project team. uninformed speculation regarding cir-
Both Detroit and Jacksonville had aviation cumstances and the event. At times, such
security planning issues which highlighted factors can cause extensive interference
related challenges. In the aviation arena, with the emergency response and related
even more focus was necessary just as it is process.
in the normal day-to-day operational world. A healthy working relationship with the
Threat vulnerabilities are a constant area of media is essential. Members of the media
concern. have their jobs to do also. If information is
24
www�asi-mag�com April 2006 Aviationsecurityinternational
0407 asi v12n2 v1.indd 24 6/4/06 9:12:13 pm
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