Emergency Response Plan: Aircraft Accidents

INTRODUCTION
An ‘emergency’ is ‘an unplanned event that can cause deaths or significant injuries to employees, customers or the public; or that can shut down business, disrupt operations, cause physical or environmental damage, or threaten the facility’s financial standing or public image’ (en.wikipedia.org, n.a.) in (FEMA, 1993). Emergencies such as aircraft accidents are extremely sensitive to manage and often draw public attentions and sympathies across the globe. For instance, the crash of Air France 447 aircraft on 01 June 2009 attracted one of the highest numbers of stakeholders involvement in the history of aviation accidents (pbs.org., 2010). A typical aircraft accident would therefore, directly or indirectly involve victims, victims’ relations, stakeholders and the general public. There is therefore, the need to prepare to handle accident situation, victims, victims’ families, stakeholders and concerned public professionally with utmost sensitivity and immediacy. The concept of Emergency Response Plan (ERP) is based on these needs. Professor Spranza defines ERP as an outlines in writing what actions should be taken following an accident and who is responsible for each action (aviationclub.aero, n.a.).
As aircraft accident is inevitable, in order to avoid or reduce significant losses to a business, it is essential that airliners identify, anticipate and implement processes to respond to emergencies to mitigate their magnitude and duration of impact (en.wikipedia.org., n.a.). Of importance, likewise, are plans to ensure Business Continuity of critical operations post-incident. Several attributes come into play during emergency such as leadership, resource management and effective communication. Consequently, an ERP harn...

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