Disaster Management

Solution Preview

I have a just failed an essay and need assistance. I have another essay due of 4000 words. The title is "Disasters do not cause effects. Effects are what we call a disaster. - Wolf Dombrowski.
I need to discuss with reference to two specific disasters, one I would like to use is the air crash in Tenerife in 1977 as one of the case studies. The paper should contain at least 12 references.
In accordance to BrainMass rules this is not an essay but background help.
STEP 1
The title of the essay:
Disasters do not cause effects. Effects are what we call disaster:
The author means that the effects of an incident are called a disaster by us. In some cases the incident is an accident. For example the Tenerife crash in 1977.
What was the accident/incident?
Two aircraft Flight 1736, Clipper Victor of Pan American World Airways and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Flight 4805 collided. This was the accident and the effect was that 583 people were killed. This effect is what we call disaster.
Similarly, we take another case study. The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill that occurred was the accident and the effect was the death of salmon, sea otters, seals and sea birds.
STEP 2

Case study 1:
Air crash in Tenerife in 1977 was itself the result of a number of incidents. What were these?
1. There were two bomb threats at the Las Palmas Airport. One small bomb actually exploded at the terminus because of which the planes had to be diverted. The Pan Am plane was told to divert to Tenerife. Similarly, the KLM plane was also told to divert to Tenerife.
2. The KLM plane decided to refuel at Los Rodeos.
3. The weather condition was poor and the Pan Am aircraft was asked to use the third taxiway. This taxiway was not identified by the crew.
4. There were a series of messages between the control tower and the PAN AM aircraft that were not properly understood.
5. Even after the disaster had occurred, the fire fighters had not been able to understand that there were two airplanes involved because they could not see in the fog and so they concentrated on the KLM aircraft.

This was the series of incidents/accidents that took place. The effect was that 234 passengers and14 crew members in the KLM plane were killed. 326 passengers and nine crew members perished. This is what Dombrowski calls disaster.
The incident/accident:
This material is taken from the website: http://www.secret-tenerife.com" What happened on the Tenerife runway?

Quite simply put, the KLM attempted takeoff, even though the Pan Am was still on the runway and the KLM had not received clearance for takeoff. The Pan Am tried to get out of the way and the KLM tried to climb over, but the latter ended belly up after dragging it's tail on the ground. The lower fuselage of the KLM plane hit the upper fuselage of the Pan Am plane, ripping apart the center of the Pan Am jet nearly directly above the wing.
1. Neither plane should have been at Los Rodeos in the first place, which was not used to handling the traffic it had that day. They should have been in Gran Canaria, but a terrorist bomb attack by Canary Island separatists, The Canary Islands Independence Movement, closed the airport there.

2. There was fog with poor visibility at Los Rodeos. That didn't help anyone, least of all the Pan Am who was looking for a suitable exit off the runway. The one they had been advised to take, seems an impossible turn for a 747.

3. The pilot of the KLM, Captain van Zanten, their "top man", seems to have been in some considerable hurry to get going and appears to have held a level of authority that subordinates did not dare challenge with the necessary strength.

4. Analysis of the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) transcript showed that the KLM pilot was convinced that he had been cleared for takeoff, while the Tenerife control tower was certain that the KLM 747 was stationary at the end of the runway and awaiting takeoff clearance.

5. Reading the transcript of the radio transmissions, exchanges between the tower and the planes were ambiguous at best. One contributing factor to the accident at Tenerife was the involved parties' use of non-standard phraseology during the critical moments leading up to the accident.

6. The crucial communication that might have prevented the KLM from taking off was lost in radio squelch. The congestion that results from using a single channel radiotelephone system can also lead to communications which are either missed or blocked by the transmissions of other users (Kerns, 1991, 1999). This problem of blocked transmissions was apparent in the runway collision at Tenerife in the Canary Islands, when the air traffic controller and the Pan Am pilot both tried to contact the KLM pilot at the same time. "http://www.secret-tenerife.com

This material is taken from the website: http://www.1001crash.com" Canary islands are located in the Atlantic ocean, in front of Africa, between 27° and 29° north latitude, and between 13° and 18° west longitude. They are volcanic islands. Tenerife is in the middle of the archipelago and is 81 km long and 45 km wide.

The PanAm Boeing 747-121 is on a charter passenger flight from Los-Angeles to Las Palmas for 8 hours. 396 people are onboard (including 16 crew members). The captain is quite angry: he did not get the clearance to land on Las Palmas: a bomb has exploded in the airport 2 hours ago, and the airport is closed for reparation. The 747 is requested to divert to Tenerife, 70 km far from Las Palmas. The Captain and the passengers are unhappy, but they don't have the choice.
The PanAm 747 is requested to park at the fourth place behind the KLM 747. This KLM aircraft is also a charter flight (KLM 4805). It has landed 45 minutes ago, with 248 people onboard (including 14 crew members). The Captain is nervous: it is forbidden for the crew to exceed their hours quotas; Dutch regulation is very strict. If he does not take-off quickly, he and KLM could be in serious trouble." http://www.1001crash.com

The Disaster:
This material is taken from the website: http://www.infoplease.com" March 27, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands: Pan American and KLM Boeing 747s collided on runway. All 249 on KLM plane and 333 of 394 aboard Pan Am jet killed. Total of 582 is highest for any type of aviation disaster." http://www.infoplease.com
This material is taken from the website ...