WEEK 1 DISCUSSION

Communication in Crisis Situations

On October 31, the SpaceShipTwo ship crashed in the California Mojave Desert. It belonged to the company of Richard Branson Virgin Galactic and was intended for suborbital flights. As a result of the accident, one of the pilots died, and the second was seriously injured. This incident can put an end to Branson’s ambitious plans for the development of space tourism and slow down the development of the entire industry. The Virgin Group started with sharing facts of the crash and show their concern regarding who died and for their families. Sir R.Branson founder of Virgin group tweeted manty times and updated clients and provide his personal remarks about accident. Other than that he personally visit to see the event of accident and tell people about this crisis.

At a press conference on November 3 NTSB Executive Chairman Christopher Hart said the accident was largely driven by Elsbury’s actions. He unlocked the tail of the device ahead of schedule - at a speed of 1 Mach (speed of sound), while he had to do this at a speed of 1.4 Mach. In addition, the crew did not perform the necessary actions to translate the tail into a vertical position. As a result, four seconds after the tail section was unlocked, the ship began to rotate around its axis, and then fell apart.

The company use effective way of communication regarding their crisis. It was good communication strategy by explaining all and taking responsibility of the event. But there was another important point and that is the background of this incident . As follows from the Virgin Galactic text broadcast on Twitter, initially the tests went according to plan, but “serious anomalies” were found during the flight of the device. As a result, the ship crashed. Its wreckage scattered in a radius of eight kilometers. The crash investigation is carried out not only by the direct creator and test device - Scaled Composites, but also by the US National Transportation Safety Administration (NTSB). (BOYLE,2014)

Leaders need to be able to analyze an audience in every situation and develop a communication strategy that facilitates accomplishing their communication objectives, including selecting the best medium.”( Barrett, 2014, P.7).I believe the communication strategy of both . Sir R.Branson and Christopher Hart was very accurate because it is best way to disclose everything correctly and engage with public and to show your concern.

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References

Barrett, D. (2014). Leadership communication. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Retrieve from

https://digitalbookshelf.southuniversity.edu/#/books/1259622991/cfi/6/22!/4/52@0:63.4

BOYLE, A. BREAKING NEWS SPACE ROCKET ACCIDENT VIRGIN GALACTIC

SPACESHIP TWO TEST MOJAVE CALIFORNIA 10/31/2014 Virgin Galactic spaceship crash in Mojave Desert–the remains of the spacecraft–October 31 2014 Virgin Galactic Majestic Flight Showreel–Long Version Stunning video shows Virgin Galactic test flight.

Reply to Everlyne Balusi

Thank you for your post and I have found it very interesting and informative post with good organized facts. You have discussed the communication crisis of Domino’s pizza. It is really important case and you have discussed it in a very good manner . Why you think oral communication is better way to communicate and handle this situation?

Reply to Tracy Billie

Thankyou Georgetta for such a nice post . I really enjoyed this informative post and can see some very good points in your post. You have discussed the communication crisis of orthodontist Dr. R. It is really nice to talk about your personal example and it is not easy to handle your personal example however you did a good job.