Book Reviews Strategic Communication in Crisis Manage- ment: Lessons from the Airline Industry, Sally J. Ray, Quorum Books, Westport, Conn. (1999), 260 pp. ‘The airline industry teaches us how an industry can come together in a crisis and, with effective management, reveal truths about its processes for the purpose of improving conditions to prevent future recurrences’. The opening quotation is the last sentence of Sally Ray’s Strategic Communication in Crisis Management: Lessons from the Airline Industry and provides the key to appreciating this book. Woven throughout the prose are examples of how the airline industry has learned from crises and used that information to improve crisis preven- tion; a topic preached by most crisis experts. This aspect of the book provides a starting point for discussing its strengths and weaknesses. Strategic Communication in Crisis Management is a mix of case studies (seven chapters), information on the airline industry (one chapter), and discussions of the crisis management process (six chapters). Unlike many crisis case presenta- tions, Ray’s are engaging and informative to the reader. Ray provides interesting text and detailed descriptions of seven major aviation accidents. While each case has a set of lessons, the real value lies in the overall lessons and learning process the airline industry experiences. Two examples will illustrate this crisis learning pro- cess. The Northwest Airlines Flight 255 investi- gation lead the National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) to include a check of the takeoff warning system prior to departing the gate. The Delta Flight 191 investigation rein- forced the dangers of wind shears and the need to utilize Doppler radar to detect wind shears in order to prevent accidents. The lessons are discovered as a result of the NTSB’s extensive crash investigations. The NTSB examines a wide array of crash factors: operations, human, weath- er, air traffic control, witnesses, structures, electricity and hydraulic systems, maintenance, and power plants and engines. It is the meticu- lous post-crisis analysis that yields the lessons. A variety of lessons is noted throughout the book so we easily see examples of how crisis analysis feeds into learning, which, in turn, should improve crisis prevention. The dominant focus in the book is the airline industry. We learn more about it and its lessons than about strategic communication. However, do not be misled into thinking that only people involved in the airline industry can take away specific lessons from this book. The airline industry has some unique features related to crisis management including being ‘completely vulnerable’ to crises and having multi-agency responses to crises. Any airline flight is subject to a combination of technical, human and weather factors that could lead to disaster – the industry is open to catastrophic disaster. Companies in the chemical and nuclear industries experience similar vulnerabilities that could have significant effects on stakeholders. When an airliner crashes, the NTSB, Federal Aviation Authority, a variety of unions, emergency response personnel, the air- line, and the manufacture can all become involved in the crisis investigation and that complicates the airline’s crisis management efforts. Again, chemi- cal accidents often involve multi-agency re- sponses and federal investigations. I would argue that the issues raised in this book about airline crash investigations will be relevant to any industry that must cope with a multi-agency response and coordination during a crisis. Two crisis management issues stand out: the ‘problems’ that arise when politicians get in- volved in the crisis and the potential for conflict among multiple groups responding to a crisis. Airline crashes draw intense media coverage and many politicians choose to exploit the situation by placing themselves into the crisis and media limelight. Ray takes us back to TWA Flight 800 and then mayor of New York City Rudi Giuliani’s media intrusion and bashing of TWA’s crisis management efforts. This led to a press con- ference by TWA Flight Attendants Union to refute Giuliani’s charges. Giuliani’s comments became a crisis within a crisis. Politicians can complicate a crisis investigation if they believe they can make political gains. Sometimes the groups working together on an investigation can fight among themselves, often over the critical issue of responsibility. The case of American Airlines Flight 191 led to a battle between American Airlines and Douglas Aircraft Company over who was responsible for the engine separating from the crashed airliner. Ray notes this fighting only made the situation worse by attracting more negative media coverage to the crisis. In December of 2002, Alaska Airlines was held responsible for inappropriate mainte- nance causing the crash of Flight 261. Alaska Airlines believes the recommended maintenance process contributed to the crash but has not taken this debate public. The reference in their public statement reads: ‘The airline agrees and concurs with many elements of the Board’s [NTSB] review and r Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2003, 9600 Garsington Road, Volume 11 Number 3 September 2003 Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. 144 JOURNAL OF CONTINGENCIES AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT