Air India Flight 171.

My posts always endeavours to consider the ‘positives’ in aviation, however, on this occasion, there is a change in direction.

Once again, the broader media is demonstrating its ignorance of aviation matters in the quest for a quick headline. The crash of Air India Flight 171 is only hours old and speculation is already rampant. However, if it is said enough times, retweeted and shared, in the mind of the populous it seemingly evolves from hearsay to fact. And it is not the general public’s fault.

We see this time and again in the wake of aviation tragedies. While the real, qualified investigators are still packing their bags and making their way to the crash site, anyone with an iPhone and a WiFi connection is spreading their ‘expert’ commentary. Misinformation and speculation flood the world. Self-professed ‘experts’ prop themselves in front of cameras and espouse their ‘best guess’ based on anything they can dredge up on Google. Meanwhile, anyone with any true insight into aviation treads with caution and waits for the facts so that ultimately some lessons can hopefully be learned from a tragedy.

Unfortunately, blank pages don’t sell advertising. By the time the facts are known, and the beneficial debate can begin, the story has ‘gone cold’ for mainstream media. And while the aviation community may be disgruntled and frustrated, the real impact is on an entirely different audience. First and foremost are the loved ones of those that have been lost. Secondly, the travelling public is saturated with headlines that would scare a bird from flying. Aviation is a proactive industry in terms of safety, but that makes for very dry reading. As a consequence, such positive stories only seem to surface in industry journals where it is virtually a case of preaching to the converted.

It appears that balanced reporting is at crossed purposes with a connected world asking for instantaneous answers. Ultimately the question must be asked whether it is acceptable to post sensationalised unchecked facts and half-baked details in the aftermath of a human tragedy. Unfortunately, it would seem that too often the answer is ‘yes’.