Recent years have seen increasing acknowledgment that aircraft accidents
affect not only those who are killed or injured, but also the families and friends
of victims. Survivors, victims and their families require sensitive treatment in
order to help them cope with what has occurred. Following high profile
accidents including USAir 427 and TWA 800, the United State of America
started a new program which they call it Family Assistance after Air Disaster.
After that a several documents providing guidance for dealing with victims and
their families were published in Australia, the UK and the EU.
However, in the Middle East, there is no region-specific family assistance
guidance for dealing with aircraft accidents. As such, operators tend to use
plans which have been designed from a western perspective. This means that
the impact of culture, ethical sensitivities and religion have not been addressed
fully. This thesis explores the differences in dealing with the families of victims
after an accident in the Middle East focusing on the Muslim population.
Interviews were conducted with experts from airlines, family assistance
providers, religious leaders and victim support groups. These were
supplemented by a survey of passengers and family members in USA, Malaysia
and Saudi Arabia to compare and contrast the expectations and needs of those
who may be affected by an aircraft accident. Over 300 responses were received
and the data were validated through further expert interviews. The results
supported the findings of the literature review and matched with the bad
experiences documented within case study accidents such as the mid-air
collision involving Saudi Arabian Airlines flight 763. The study found that the
three factors are inextricably linked, with religion being a strong factor in
determining individual’s response to their loss; how they relate to others and the
type of support they should be given. Suggestions are made regarding the
design of a Family Assistance Centre, staff training, words that should / should
not be used; and to explain how people may react.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:CRANFIELD1/oai:dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk:1826/6850 |
| Date | 08 1900 |
| Creators | Alahdal, Alhosain Abdullah |
| Contributors | Braithwaite, Graham R. |
| Publisher | Cranfield University |
| Source Sets | CRANFIELD1 |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or dissertation, Doctoral, PhD |
| Rights | © Cranfield University 2010. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the copyright owner. |
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