Archive for February, 2012
A Tale of Two Captains
Sunday, February 5th, 2012
Following is the latest blog by The Institute for Crisis Management’s Senior Consultant, Larry Smith. To learn more about ICM, watch http://www.impactmovie.com/icm/
A year ago US Airways Captain Sully Sullenberger made an emergency landing in the Hudson River off New York City, after a flock of geese had struck both engines of his aircraft and destroyed them.
He was last to leave the sinking aircraft, and every passenger was rescued alive.
One year later, Captain Franceso Schettino was at the helm of the Costa Concordia cruise ship when he apparently steered it too close to shore and struck rocks that immediately caused the ship to roll on its side and become partially submerged. More than 4,200 passengers had to fend for themselves, and 32 passengers and crew did not survive. The captain has been accused of abandoning his ship and his responsibility toward his passengers, by fleeing to safety before everyone had been evacuated.
What makes one captain a hero and one a zero?
(more…)