Ever been involved in an airline incident as a passenger, a relative of a passenger, or an airline employee? I certainly hope not. It is a distressing experience for all parties involved. I had the opportunity to take part in a live emergency drill for a major airline a few months ago. I was part of a large group of volunteers who role-played the parts of relatives of passengers. Airline employees, airline executives, and representatives from the NTSB (National Transporation Safety Board) even took part in the drill. This was as real as it got, from "angry" relatives demanding information regarding their loved ones to airline executives and NTSB reps giving press conferences.
My day started with a briefing of the incident. A flight with 90 passengers on board crashed short of the runway into the bay. There was no word yet on the fate of the passengers. That information was to come later. I was given the role of the brother of one of the passengers. I was paired up with another individual who played the role of my friend. My “sister” went to the wrong airport that morning and the airline changed her flight to the one that eventually crashed. I was supposed to be very angry and upset with the airline.
After the briefing, we were transported to a family care center where each family was assigned to “Care Agents”. The care agents were responsible for providing support to the relatives. They came from different backgrounds: check-in agents, airline marketing, terminal manager, aircraft mechanic, baggage handler, you name it. The care agent was a voluntary position. They were given two days intensive training on airline safety and NTSB regulations.
Being that I work for a company that provides Emergency Notification solutions, the first question I had to ask my two care agents was how they were notified about the event. They said that they received automated phone calls and emails. The phone calls instructed them to meet at the airport hangar within the hour where they would catch a flight to the site of the incident. The airline was able to get people assembled quickly using a mass notification system. One of the care agents then told me that they were delayed one hour due to mechanical issues with their aircraft!! This was not even part of the drill!!
The airline effectively used the mass notification solution to quickly assemble their team of people. However, what the airline failed to do was provide specific instructions to their volunteers based on their role. This became very apparent when we first met our care agents. They were participating in their first live drill and figured stuff out as they went. This made me and my friend “nervous and angry”. A relevance engine could have been used here to deliver the information that mattered to the volunteers, giving them the information they needed to effectively perform their responsibilities.
In the next installment, I will share more of my experiences from the emergency drill. I will also discuss other areas in the emergency drill where the airline could have benefited from using a relevance engine.
