Ethiopian Airlines Hijacking to Geneva – Lessons in social media crisis management #ET702

On February 17, 2014, as Ethiopian Airlines flight ET702 flew past its scheduled destination of Rome, aviation experts and novices alike started sharing information online at the speed of light. It didn’t help that the airplane started “squawking 7500”, aviation radio-speak for a hijacking alert. Once the aircraft had landed — with only 10 minutes of fuel left and one engine flamed out — it was discovered that a rogue co-pilot had forced the plane to proceed to Geneva in order to seek asylum. No one was injured or harmed.

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However, it’s what happened before the aircraft touched down that should be of concern to aviation executives globally. Previously, we have shared blow-by-blow details of what happened after the Asiana Airlines crash in San Francisco. We also detailed the different personas involved in the Singapore Airlines emergency landing in Baku recently. Now, we have prepared a presentation around the Ethiopian Airlines incident, that offers insights and lessons from a crisis management perspective to airline and airport executives, focusing on what happened even before the plane landed in Geneva. The findings may shock some of you.

 

 

 


  • Download the latest “SimpliFlying Airline Crisis Guide” – An overview of 6 types of airlines crises concerning social media, including real-world case studies from recent years.
  • Preview Crisis Communications Quarterly Report – An in-depth report of the 15 most important airline crises and disruptions from the latest quarter, assessing how they were handled, and how they could have been handled better.

 

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