\*The worker that sent shock waves and more through Hawaii last month when he or she sent a false missile alert reportedly believed the threat was real, according to an NBC news report released today. Ugh! As if…I mean, do you really think the person, who has since been terminated, would have taken such a messy risk if the belief wasn’t there? But oh well, I guess you never know.
Anyway, this is what came out of remarks from the FCC report, which calls the incident, ?A combination of human error and inadequate safeguards contributed to this false alert.?
The head of Hawaii?s Emergency Management Agency, Vern Miyagi, had “taken full responsibility” for the incident and resigned Tuesday morning, and two other employees are gone as well.
The FCC presented a detailed timeline today describing how the miscommunication of the Jan. 13 ballistic missile alert that sent some scrambling to seek shelter amid an increased threat from North Korea happened.
But first you might want to revisit the Alert.
NBC News reports…
the midnight shift supervisor at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency decided to conduct a spontaneous ballistic missile defense drill during the transition to the day shift, according to the FCC report.
At around 8 a.m. local time (1 p.m. ET), the midnight shift supervisor informed the dayshift supervisor about the plan to conduct that drill, but the incoming supervisor believed it was only for the midnight shift officers ? not the officers about to begin, according to the report.
?As a result, the day shift supervisor was not in the proper location to supervise the day shift warning officers when the ballistic missile defense drill was initiated,? the report said.
The midnight shift supervisor initiated that drill at around 8:05 a.m., pretending to be the U.S. Pacific Command and playing a recorded message over the phone to the day shift officer, according to the report.
The recorded message began and ended with the phrase ?exercise, exercise, exercise,? according to the report, but also featured language scripted for use during an actual live ballistic missile test alert, including the sentence, ?This is not a drill.?
Unfortunately, and oddly enough, it is that last part the Emergency worker heard: “This is not a drill.”
You know how the next 38 minutes went.
There is a lot more to this. Read it at NBC News.
