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Crises Management 2.0

Asiana Airlines Flight OZ214 in SFO Case study & Analysis

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11:27am: Plane makes impact at SFO

11.28am: – First photo from a Google employee boarding another flight hits

Twitter (within 30 secs!)

11.30am: Emergency slides deployed

11.45am: First photo from a passenger posted on Path, Facebook and

Twitter

11.56am: Norwegian journalists asks for permission to use photo from first

posters. Tons of other requests follow

1.20pm: Boeing issues statement via Twitter

2.04pm: SFO Fire Department speaks to the press

3.00pm: NTSB holds press conference, and keeps updating Twitter with

photos

3.39pm: Asiana Airlines statement released

3.40pm: White House releases statement

Timeline of Events – 6 July 2013

Source: AFP, @JohnSaeki, http://twitpic.com/d1hh8e

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Asiana Flight 214 Crash:

Social Media bursts with Live

updates from passengers and

others at SFO

Learn more about our in-house Crises Management MasterClass

Read full account: http://bloggerchica.com/how-social-media-broke-the-story-of-the-sfo-plane-crash/

The first tweet, posted within

30 seconds of impact

Krista Seiden, a Google employee,

was boarding another flight when

the Asiana aircraft hit the runway.

She had her mobile phone in her

hand, and her first instinct was to

snap a photo and tweet it out. All

within seconds of impact.

Journalists scamper to interview Krista over

Twitter

Within 24hrs, Krista and her photo were quoted in

over 4,450 news articles (Source: Google News)

First photo

from a

passenger hits

Twitter, via

Path David Eun, a Samsung executive was the first passenger to post a photo of the burning wreckage, 18 mins after the crash.

https://path.com/p/1lwrZb

Given the large number of

passengers from mainland

China, it was inevitable that

there would be posts made

on leading networks there,

like Weibo, QQ and Xiaonei.

One of the passengers

constantly updated his status.

First Photos posted

on Weibo by a

Chinese passenger

http://www.weibo.com/stephenzyj

Ironically, he was

the one who was

seen running with

his carry-on bag,

in the first photo

taken by David.

He says he did

not want to lose

his passport.

He justifies his decision to run with his carry-on

bag

http://www.weibo.com/stephenzyj

A number of passengers

at and around the airport

start connecting over

Twitter hashtags and

conversations ensue.

Here is a very interesting

thread: https://twitter.com/DanielleLWells/s

tatus/353663158826713088

Other passengers

at SFO start

interactions

https://www.facebook.com/sheryl/posts/10152997724435177

Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg made a post that went

viral

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Asiana Flight 214 Crash:

Journalists, NTSB, SFO and other

airlines provide Constant Updates

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https://www.facebook.com/sheryl/posts/10152997724435177

Influential journalists provided constant

updates on Twitter and Facebook

Boeing updates its website front page and

Twitter

Airlines that fly to SFO update their Twitter

status

The NTSB Provides regular updates via Twitter One organisation that did a good job with updates was the National Transport Safety Board in the US.

They constantly updated their Twitter account, even on a Sunday, as soon as more information was obtained by those on the scene, culminating in a press conference.

Constant stream of

photos from the NTSB

Click here to view more photos from NTSB

The NTSB also were the first to

become the official source of

close-up photos from the

tarmac, which were all released

through Twitter.

San Francisco Airport

switches to crises mode

SFO starts updating Twitter and

Facebook constantly with the

latest on the situation.

The airport makes good use of

hashtags, and tries to reply to

individual passengers as much

as possible.

San Francisco Airport

switches to crises mode

The airport’s Twitter account also regularly re-tweets other authorities, like the NTSB, and airlines updating passengers about the situation.

This allows them to address the concerns of a large number of travellers, who often had similar questions about flight operations and delays.

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Asiana Flight 214 Crash:

Asiana finally responds…

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Press Release

posted on Twitter

and G+ Asiana Airlines finally

updates Facebook and

Twitter, with an initial

statement that thanks

people for their concern

and support.

A press release is posted 8

hours after the crash.

No status updates

prior to the

statement Unfortunately, for six hours

prior to the airline making a

statement, most of their

messages online seem

incongruent.

And this gets noticed by

the press and others too…

Silence speaks louder than words

Meanwhile, Facebook fan numbers for the airline shoot up dramatically

Certainly, concerned

family members,

travellers and the public

flocked to Asiana’s

Facebook page to look

for information, but were

disappointed for the first

six hours.

The first update from

Asiana on Facebook about

the crash was its second

most shared post this year.

Ironically, it was also their

most “liked” post till date

as well.

Source: Unmetric

The airline’s first

Facebook update

was a big hit

Twitter followers

grow dramatically

as well

Most journalists and

news editors, along with

others interested in the

news were expecting

more regular updates

from Asiana Airlines

Not replying?

It seems that Asiana didn't capitalize on Twitter's reach and didn't tweet any more than usual over the weekend to keep people updated of the situation. Moreover, they did not reply at all to tweets during the period of crises. Not at all.

Asiana’s stock price dips 6.2% in a day

The crash, followed by a delayed response, and then preliminary investigations pointing to potential pilot error culminated in a dramatic slide in the airline’s stock price.

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Asiana Flight 214 Crash:

Lessons in Crises Communications

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What’s your 20

second PR strategy?

In the age of the connected traveller, airlines do not have 20 minutes, but rather 20 seconds to respond to a crisis situation. Asiana Airlines clearly was not ready for this situation that ensued online. But each airline and airport needs to build social media into its standard operating procedures for crises management.

The accidental spokesperson may not always be right While Krista Seiden happened to be at the right place at he right time, not all her information was accurate. For example, the flight did not arrive from Taipei. Soon after, some journalists mis-interpreted that 60 un-accounted for passengers were actually fatalities. If Asiana was participating online, it could have corrected these facts.

Where do your customers talk about you? If most of the passengers on the plane were Chinese and Korean, it was a matter of time before the news was posted on mainstream social channels in their home countries, like Weibo and WeChat. A professional crises communications team must speak to customer where they “reside online, and address their concerns using the same media.

It appears from the incidence that Asiana Airlines has not invested in any kind of social media crises or customer support strategy.

They have banned people from posting on their Facebook wall. On Twitter, they reply to a handful of very positive tweets, but don't answer any client questions.

And all this backfires when there is a crisis situation. Had they planned ahead, engaged passengers and journalists online and set the facts right, the damage to the brand could have been reduced. But now, it cannot be undone.

Don’t start digging the

well, when you’re thirsty

Learn more about our in-house Crises Management MasterClass

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Asiana Flight 214 Crash:

Crises Management 2.0 – How to

prepare for the next crises?

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