On December 16, the NTSB conducted a post-accident communications training program for 50 staff members of Bombardier Aerospace at its corporate headquarters in Dorval, Quebec.  The participants included professional communicators, investigators and senior executives.

Bombardier had requested the training after one of its senior communicators attended the two-day “Managing Communications Following an Aviation Accident or Incident” (PA302) course in October at the NTSB Training Center.  The one-day course delivered for Bombardier is an abbreviated version of PA302, which has been held at the Training Center every October for the past seven years.

The objective of the training is to educate key staff at aviation industry manufacturers, airlines and airports about what they can expect following an aircraft accident or significant incident so they can prepare for their role with the NTSB and the news media. 

“The course actually benefits both the participants as well as the NTSB,” said Peter Knudson (OC), who manages both the two-day course at the Training Center as well as the one-day version that was presented in Canada.  “After they go through the program, which includes an accident scenario workshop, we end up with a better educated and more prepared group of professionals that we may end up working with during some phase of an accident investigation.”

In addition to Knudson, the other presenters were Tara Hamilton, Communications Manager for Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority, and Lauren Peduzzi, Peduzzi Communications.  Peduzzi was an NTSB public affairs officer from 1999-2007. 

“These courses are a great deal for the organization who hosts it because they can train dozens of staff members in a single day at their locations,” said Knudson.  The hosting organization reimburses the Safety Board for all costs associated with the delivery of the course, including the cost of the staff preparation time. 

Although this is the first NTSB communications course presented outside the U.S., Knudson, Hamilton and Peduzzi have delivered this same program around the country for the past two years. 

The next course will be presented in April for the Massachusetts Port Authority (MassPort) in Boston for airline staff and airport operators from around New England.