Lockerbie and Major Transport Disasters – Are Our Transport Corporations Prepared For the Aftermath?

In Australia we have never suffered a major aviation accident, but we have experienced two major coach accidents in the past two years and the horror of the Granville train disaster of the 1970s is still a vivid memory to many.

By world standards, Australia has so far been mercifully free of major transport disasters. However, a major oil spill or a major sea or aviation disaster could happen tomorrow – some even suggest that we are already overdue for such a disaster. Only last September, two 747 aircraft just missed colliding at Sydney’s Mascot Airport, whilst in 1989 two 737 incidents became perilously close to becoming major accidents.

And if a major transport crisis does occur, how well prepared are our relevant transport corporations, public authorities and emergency services?

A “Managing a Transport Disaster” seminar – the first public seminar of its kind in Australia – will be held in Sydney on 3-4 June 1991 to help transport corporations and authorities and our emergency services prepare for, and deal with, the emergencies and the aftermath of a transport disaster.

The seminar is being presented jointly by BDW Aviation Services, a specialist aviation and tourism consultancy, and Blake Dawson Waldron, one of Australia’s major law firms. BDW Aviation Services provides aviation, transport and tourism industries with a wide range of specialised expert services, including strategic and operational policy advice, aviation and transport legal advice and specific aviation and tourism project development and management.

Mr Peter Harbison, managing director of BDW Aviation, said that there is an urgent need for a forum at which Australian companies and Government organisations can widen or fill gaps in their knowledge of disaster planning and management.

Mr Harbison believes that many Australian corporations and public authorities are not adequately prepared for the reality of a transport disaster or sufficiently aware of the complex range of legal, media, public relations and internal staff relations problems that can arise after a transport disaster.

”Although our emergency services, transport organisations and many of our major transport corporations have disaster plans ready and relevant managers and staff have been trained for dealing with the emergency situation arising from a major transport disaster, we have only a very small pool of disaster experts in Australia – especially those who have had major transport disaster experience – to draw upon for training or for help at the time of crisis”,Mr Harbison said.

“Overseas experience has also shown that the shock and havoc immediately created by a major disaster can result in management chaos or ‘rigor mortis’, leading to inadequate or incorrect emergency action being taken. This can be avoided with proper training and expert advice”, he said.

The Managing a Transport Disaster seminar will, for the first time, bring together a range of transport disaster experts from both Australia and overseas, some of our key managers from the transport and public sectors who are responsible for managing disaster situations when they occur, as well as a number of leading legal, public relations and risk management specialists.

Disaster experts will include key personnel involved in such major overseas transport disasters as the Belgian Zeebrugge ferry sinking, the PanAm crash at Lockerbie and the Granville train crash, all of whom will talk about their firsthand experiences.

Representatives of Australian aviation, maritime and surface transport organisations will also discuss examples of plans they have developed for handling possible disasters.

To help understand and prepare for the aftermath of a transport disaster, the seminar will include a number of sessions involving legal experts from Australia and overseas who will advise why transport organisations should undertake audits of legal exposure and likely risks of litigation from a transport disaster and address the need for insurers and underwriters to be prepared for their clients’ potential liabilities.

BDW Aviation Services believes that Australian companies and transport authorities are not as well equipped for managing the problems and tasks of the aftermath of disaster as they are at dealing with the initial emergency situation.

“Many organisations and managers have some plans and training for responding to a disaster emergency, but need to be aware of how to deal with the continuing media coverage, the myriad of legal issues and claims, the wider public relations issues, including shareholder and internal staff relations issues, and any government inquiries or investigations which may arise”,Mr Harbison said. “This includes establishing and coordinating a disaster management team and ensuring that all levels of the organisation are adequately informed throughout the lengthy and painful process. Similarly, it is essential to take a sensitive attitude towards all those who have suffered loss or injury and towards their dependants and relatives.

“Many of the shortcomings of the emergency action taken are not revealed until some time after the crisis· occurs. A major transport disaster has an immediate traumatic impact and, longer term, can have ongoing adverse effects on an organisation’s revenue and costs, its day-to-day operations and its public profile.

”Australian transport companies and operating authorities can and must become better prepared for possible major transport disasters”, he said. The June Seminar is the first step in highlighting these issues from a commercial and legal point of view.