SAS commended for crisis management

Airline Industry Information, Oct 15, 2001

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2001 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

SAS, the Scandinavian airline, has reportedly been commended for its crisis management after the accident involving one of its aircraft at Milan's Linate airport, Italy on 8 October.

The decisive factor was the airline's new crisis plan, which was adopted in the spring of 2000, according to Dagens Industri, a Swedish business newspaper. According to the newspaper the crisis plan was followed almost mechanically after the accident.

The crisis management work was apparently led by Deputy CEO Marie Ehrling, with support from the CEO Jorgen Lindegaard. The crisis started when the SAS centre at Copenhagen's Kastrup airport lost contact with the aircraft - the centre reportedly keeps in touch with all of the aircraft 24 hours a day.

The starting point for the crisis management plan is apparently an agreement with SOS Alarm, an alarm company, to send get in touch with the company management once the decision has been made that the plan is to be launched.

The airline has an emergency room at the headquarters in Frosundavik, Sweden from which the crisis management is handled - there are also about 800 persons especially trained for this type of situation.

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