Zimbabwe fools media with accident report

AROUND the world, the news went out: Plane accident in Zimbabwe, black smoke on runway, ambulances screaming in.

Except the disaster never happened. Harare airport authorities tricked the public and the media into believing a security drill yesterday was a crash to make the drill and the emergency response seem more real.

It’s a practice that’s been used elsewhere, but is seen as especially risky in a world where panic is only a few tweets or clicks away.

“Emergency drills are all well and good as part of regular safety procedures and operational awareness in the event of the real thing, but there is a danger of a ‘cry wolf’ syndrome if emergency drills are repeatedly confused with ‘real-life’ events,” said Neil MacKinnon, global macro strategist at VTB Capital.

Financial markets appeared unperturbed by yesterday’s incident in economically and politically isolated Zimbabwe. But the lie disrupted hospital staff in the country’s capital, confused airport passengers, and provoked worries about its impact on the struggling air industry.

It started around midday, when Zimbabwean aviation officials told news organisations that a Boeing 767 arriving from London was involved in an accident at Harare’s airport.

Soldiers, paramilitary police and security agents sealed off approaches to the airport and guarded the perimeter. Military helicopters hovered aloft as smoke rose from one runway. Ambulances rushed in.

At Harare’s Parirenyatwa hospital, extra doctors and nurses were rushed in and told to expect casualties. The atmosphere at the hospital was tense with staff evidently believing it was a genuine emergency.

All-news TV networks and websites in several countries flashed reports of an accident, and the alerts were passed along dozens of times via Twitter.

Several hours later, David Chawota, head of the Zimbabwe Civil Aviation Authority, told journalists that the drill’s scenario — involving a non-existent Boeing 767 airliner arriving from London — was designed to simulate a hijacking in which nine people had been killed and 30 were injured.

“Telling the media was part of the exercise. We wanted to see how the media would react,” he said. “In the event, the drill was a success because all our systems worked perfectly. Police, security and hospital staff reacted swiftly” — along with the media.

Media watchdogs warned against such manipulation.

Gilles Lordet, editor-in-chief at Reporters Without Borders, called the incident “totally absurd” and said the media should have been warned in advance.