Develop and Implement Crisis Management Plans
Assignment 1 Crisis Research and Analysis
Virgin Galactic Crash 31st October 2014
Prepared by Dan Johnson s3508105
1. Research and identify a recent organisation crisis (post 2005)
1.1. Virgin Galactic Crash 2014 Overview
Virgin Galactic was founded in 2004 by Sir Richard Branson. The company set out to be the first commercial spaceliner, giving anyone the opportunity to travel into space. On the 31st of October 2014 their only operational test passenger craft the VSS Enterprise crashed during its 55th test flight.
The E nterprise w as a SpaceShipTwo (SS2) model, the second generation of Virgin Galactic’s “SpaceShip” craft. The SS2, still in relatively early testing stages, is airlaunched from V MS Eve, the mothership craft. The E nterprise also features a new air brake system, known as a feather brake.
Within seconds of the E nterprise releasing from the E ve there was a puff of smoke and the ship disintegrated. At the time the E nterprise was testing both a new hybrid propulsion system, RocketMotorTwo (RM2), and a plasticbased fuel type. It was initially speculated this was the cause of the plane’s crash.1 2
This is a timeline of the events as they happened;3 > 10:07:19 am E nterprise released from E ve > 10:07:21 am E nterprise engines start > 10:07:29 am E nterprise accelerates to 0.9 Mach > 10:07:30 am Feather brake system unlocked > 10:07:31 am E nterprise reaches speed of 1.02 Mach > 10:07:34 am Telemetry and video data lost
Within a matter of seconds the craft had seemingly exploded and debris was scattered across a 56km area of the Mojave desert, California. The craft was piloted by Peter Siebold and copiloted by Michael Alsbury. Sadly as a result of the crash Alsbury lost his life, while Siebold was left with critical injuries.
1 "Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo exploded at 45,000ft: One ..." 22 Mar. 2015
The crisis was technological, early estimates blamed the RM2 as the mechanism at fault. However further investigation revealed Alsbury the copilot had moved his feather brake system from ‘locked’ to its ‘unlocked’ position.4
1.3. Impact of the crash
1.3.1. Virgin Galactic The initial impact to Virgin Galactic was speculated by the media to be massive. Many believed it meant the end of the project5, something that would push “space tourism” even further out of reach of the public.
However, despite the catastrophic loss of life, the crisis appears to only have been a minor setback for the program. Virgin Galactic announced in November of 2014 that it’s second SS2 was expected to commence test flights in 2015.
Financially speaking, the cost to Virgin Galactic and by extension the Virgin Group was minimal. As of 2014 it is estimated Sir Richard Branson had invested close to $500 million (US) into Virgin Galactic. Following the crash approximately 24 people, of the 700 or more who had prebooked with the spaceliner, requested a refund.6 7 Including the cost to develop and construct the E nterprise8, the total loss to Virgin Galactic would be close to $1 billion (US).
Given Virgin Group’s annual revenues exceed £15 billion ($22 billion USD)9 the loss is without a doubt significant, but unlikely to have any dire financial
4 "'Feather' System Was Unlocked: NTSB Space.com." 2014. 22 Mar. 2015
1.3.2. Space Industry Regarding the industry as a whole, the impacts again were negligible. The industry of Space Tourism, or commercial space operators, is still in its infancy. Virgin Galactic, at the time of incident, had only 700 reservations for seats. The industry in total is comprised of three sectors, commercial spaceflight, satellite construction and the launch sector.11 Because of this separation, each sector is not dependant on the success or failure of the other, thereby limiting any negative media attention as a result of the crash.
1.4. Virgin’s crisis communication response 1.4.1. Communication Overview Almost immediately the company went online to inform the public an inflight anomaly had occurred. At the time of the crash Virgin Galactic’s Twitter account was posting live updates of the E nterprise’s test flight. Immediately the tweets of praise became tweets of empathy, and concern providing informative, accurate and reassuring messages to anyone following online.
Below are the live tweets sent from Virgin Galactic as the incident happened. 12 “#SpaceeShipTwo has been released by WhiteKnightTwo, and is now flying freely for the 35th time.” 10:07 AM 31st October 2014
“Ignition! #SpaceShipTwo is flying under rocket power again. Stay tuned for updates.” 10:07 AM 31st October 2014
“#SpaceShipTwo has experienced an inflight anomaly. Additional
10 "How Richard Branson Has Been Funding Virgin Galactic at ..." 2015. 22 Mar. 2015
“UPDATE:Virgin Galactic’s partner Scaled Composites conducted a powered test flight of #SpaceShipTwo earlier today (1 of 4)” 11:38 AM 31st October
“During the test, the vehicle suffered a serious anomaly resulting in the loss of SpaceShipTwo. WK2 landed safely. (2 of 4)” 10:38 AM 31st October
“Our first concern is the status of the pilots, which is unknown at this time.” (3 of 4) 10:39 AM 31st October 2014
“We will work closely with the relevant authorities to determine the cause of this accident and provide updates ASAP. (4 of 4)” 10:39 AM 31st October 2014
Sir Richard Branson also was quick into action, on Twitter he went from posting images of halloween costumes, to tweeting messages of empathy and support.13
“Thoughts with all @virgingalactic & Scaled, thanks for all your messages of support. I’m flying to Mojave immediately to be with the team.” 1:04 PM 31st October 2014
1.4.2. Communication Tools and Spokespersons The company relied on both Sir Richard Branson and Chief Executive George Whitesides as spokespersons in the aftermath of the event. This dual spokesperson plan worked effectively for several reasons.
Firstly, Sir Richard Branson is synonymous with the Virgin brand. He often
13 "How to Do Crisis Communications Right – The Virgin ..." 22 Mar. 2015
But by having the Virgin Galactic Chief Executive deliver his own statement, it showed there was someone who could dedicate their full resources to solving or fixing this crisis. While eliminating the risk of negative brand association.
2. Crisis communication response evaluation The quick response worked tremendously well for Virgin Galactic as they took control of the situation and how information was disseminated. They were frequent in their releasing of statements with known details and all public appearances by Virgin Galactic’s Chief Executive, George T. Whitesides, were riddled with emotion and appeared unquestioningly sincere14 .
Sir Branson also made it a point to own the situation. From his first tweet, his tone was focussed on action, ownership and continued passion.15 He let people know he was doing everything in his power to help with the situation at hand.
The messages were also consistent. Sally Lee an author for B usiness2Community.com believes; “Virgin Galactic clearly follows the path Branson has laid out… It is clear that a crisis communications plan had already existed and everyone was very aware of the messaging, tone and steps to be taken. This is how Virgin…was able to respond so quickly.” 16
Not all media outlets were singing Branson’s praises however with one magazine, P rivate Eye, claiming Virgin tried to distance itself from the crash initially by stating it was Scaled
14 "Virgin Galactic CEO: 'Space Is Hard' Mediaite." 2014. 22 Mar. 2015
3. Stakeholders 3.1. Key Stakeholders
In no particular order;
● Federal aviation administration ● International Civil Aviation Organisation ● International association for the advancement for space safety ● Staff (both Virgin Galactic and wider Virgin community) ● Board members ● Pilots families ● NASA ● US Aviation Association ● Customers ● General Public ● Investors ○ Aabar Investments
3.2. Cultural and linguistic considerations in stakeholder communication Due to the nature of the crisis, in that it did not outwardly nor immediately affect the general global public in a negative way. The prerogative was not on Virgin Galactic to circulate the information in a rushed or hurried manner. They had to get the message out in a timely manner yes, but failing to do so would not have resulted in further loss of life. As such the important stakeholders to consider in their communication strategy would have been;
● International investors ○ Different languages would be a factor to consider, however given that third party investors were primarily from the United Emirates this would not be a big requirement. ● Celebrity culture
17 "VSS Enterprise crash Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." 22 Mar. 2015
● Space culture ○ The wider space community is very active and generally very well informed with regards to technical specifications and the like. Given these are the primary audience for program’s like this, it would be crucial to not seem inaccurate, alarmist or condescending when communicating with this demographic.