November 5, 2025 • 22 mins
A deadly crash at UPS’s Louisville hub put crisis leadership under a microscope—and the first 24 hours told a powerful story about timing, empathy, and restraint. We invited Michele Ehrhart, former VP of Global Communications at FedEx and author of Crisis Compass, to unpack how the early communications played out in this heartbreaking incident.
We walk through the initial statements that landed within hours: awareness first, compassion next, and a clear handoff to the NTSB as the authority on cause and timeline. From there, we explore why “do no harm” is more than a slogan—it’s a filter that keeps leaders from filling silence with speculation. You’ll hear how family hotlines, verified safety guidance, and precise update cadence support trust when uncertainty is high, and why a CEO video isn’t an automatic lever on day one.
Our guest, Michele Ehrhart is author of the new crisis guide book, Crisis Compass, available now. She is Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at the University of Memphis, and also serves as CEO at Hart Communications, a reputation management firm.
We'd love to hear from you. Email the show at Tom@leadinginacrisis.com.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tom Mueller (00:07):
Hi everyone and welcome back to the Leading in a
Crisis Podcast.
We're happy to have you with usagain this week for another
exciting episode.
On our show today, we're goingto do a quick deep dive into a
crisis situation that's justdeveloping now, and that's the
plane crash of a United ParcelService aircraft that crashed on
(00:30):
takeoff in Louisville,Kentucky, here in the United
States.
This happened about 5:15 p.m.
on Tuesday night, which wasjust last night, so about 15
hours ago from now.
Now it crashed in Louisville,Kentucky.
That is UPS's main hub fortheir package processing here in
(00:53):
the United States.
So a significant potentialoperational impact on the
company there.
What we want to do is kind oftake a look at the crisis
communications aspect in theearly part of this response.
Now it has been a very tragicincident in that we have current
reports now of nine people deadas a result of the incident and
(01:17):
another 11 people injured.
So we have a crew of three onthe aircraft and people on the
ground who were injured.
So it's a horrific incident.
But again, this is thoseunexpected crisis situations
that can happen.
Our challenge as communicatorsis how do we respond to that
(01:38):
crisis?
Now on the show today, I have aspecial guest with expertise in
the package shipping industryand crisis communications in
general.
And she is Michelle Earhart.
Now, Michelle worked as vicepresident of global
communications for FedEx, who'sthe other large package carrier
(01:59):
here in the United States, andso has deep experience in this
industry.
Michelle also has a new bookout called Crisis Compass, which
we'll talk about on anotherepisode of the podcast.
But just know you've got apublished author here with us as
(02:19):
well as an expert in thisfield.
Michelle, thanks for joiningus.
Michele Ehrhart (02:24):
Tom, thanks for having me.
Tom Mueller (02:27):
So let's jump right into the Crisis Communications
response to the incident.
The incident occurred about5:15 p.m., as I mentioned.
The company had their firststatement issued about 6.40 p.m.
So it was about an hour and 25minutes after the crash
occurred, and they posted astatement on the X platform as
(02:50):
well as on their companywebsite.
The second statement, well,that first statement was the
basics of what you'd expect.
The we are aware of theincident message, and we are in
action responding.
The second message from thecompany came out about three
(03:10):
hours later, and that was themore empathetic statement that
included language that said,we're terribly saddened by
what's happened here, and it's ablow to our family here at UPS.
They also referenced the NTSBinvestigation.
Any aircraft crash here in theU.S.
(03:33):
will be investigated by theNational Transportation Safety
Board.
So the airlines really have togive deference to those.
And finally, they reference thefamily hotline for family
members who may be looking fortheir individuals.
So the company got twostatements out within about
three hours of the incident.
(03:53):
We did not see any videostatements from a senior
executive of the company or theCEO, which oftentimes you do see
in aircraft incidents.
So, Michelle, I want to pullyou in here now and uh get your
thoughts on this early crisiscommunications response here.
Michele Ehrhart (04:15):
Let me start by saying this.
Having worked in thetransportation industry for so
long, doing the type of work Idid, I know exactly what they're
probably working on because youcan't be UPS, FedEx, or any
other global company withouthaving a communications crisis
(04:37):
plan.
So, in my headline for you isthey're doing everything right.
I talk about in my book, what Icall the golden hour, where you
have a very short period oftime to acknowledge that
something has happened and thatyou are working on it.
And they did that.
And then they came back outbehind that with a little more
information, but they don't havea lot of information.
(04:59):
And if you think about thesequence of events that was
happening on the ground, therewas a shelter in place put in
place because of where the crashhappened and what it crashed
into.
And so they're trying to ensurethe safety of those in the
surrounding area.
I would imagine the timebetween the initial statement
(05:20):
and the one that was three hoursin is they were trying to get
all of the information theycould.
And that is the first line ofdefense when you're talking
about crisis communications.
I mean, the first thing youwant to do is acknowledge that
you are aware, and then thesecond is do no harm.
So you don't want to go outwith information too soon and
make the situation worse orspeculate or not have your
(05:45):
facts.
So I believe at this pointthey've done everything right.
And you commented about thelack of a leadership video.
You know, in my 22 years atFedEx, we never once went out
with a CEO video after a crisis,and and a lot of that has to do
with the nature of what thecrisis is, and and maybe later
(06:06):
there'll be an opportunity thatwould warrant the CEO to come
out, but I'm not at allsurprised by that or disturbed
by that.
I think it's probably part oftheir protocol, and they do have
one, and everyone in thisindustry does.
And you know, we spent so muchof our time in that crisis
communications area planning thework, and now you're working
(06:29):
the plan.
There is no perfect crisiscommunications plan because you
can't predict the exact thingthat will happen.
But I guarantee you, UPS has aplan that they have done drills
on, tabletop exercises, andthey've practiced.
And now they are putting outwhat they have practiced.
Tom Mueller (06:49):
And so far, so good on with their communications.
Now it's interesting.
Uh, I'm thinking about UPS inthis context as an airline
because what we're dealing withis an aircraft crash.
But in reality, this is reallya package delivery company that
happens to use aircraft.
And so it's a very differentapproach than you'd get from,
(07:12):
say, a United Airlines or aSouthwest Airlines, where
they're carrying several hundredpassengers on aircraft, and the
human impact of a crash withthose carriers uh would
necessarily be much larger.
So, in those cases, we do seethose CEO videos coming out
fairly quickly.
Michelle, as we think aboutwhat the teams are going through
(07:34):
right now, they're in thethroes of crisis response now.
With Louisville being thepackage hub for UPS, uh, it's
going to have a significantoperational impact on the
company.
And then the communicationshave to start reflecting what's
happening there operationally aswell.
So, from your perspective andexperience, what do you see sort
(07:58):
of happening in the backgroundthere now?
Michele Ehrhart (08:01):
I would imagine the team in their operations
area are looking at how do youdo business continuity?
Because while this did happenat their hub, and what was on
that plane was a total loss, andthey know exactly what was on
that plane.
The tracking and the technologyis so sophisticated, they will
contact anyone who had a packageon that plane and let them
(08:23):
know.
Beyond that, they're working tosecure the area, make sure that
people are safe, and then toget back operational as soon as
possible.
Because they do have a huboperation there where the
majority of their packages arelikely going through a
particular area and they want toget that continuity back.
(08:45):
They've built a brand onreliability and speed, and
they've got to get back to thatquickly.
Tom Mueller (08:51):
Okay, it's an excellent point because you're
right.
The business continuity plan isgoing to be activated alongside
your crisis communications planfor an incident like this, and
then trying to figure out do wehave um alternative locations
where we can process packagescoming in or all of that stuff
that's uh logistics, potentiallylogistics nightmare, I guess,
(09:15):
to keep it all rolling.
But hopefully, you know, theairport gets opened up uh again
quickly and they can resumeoperations.
But right now they've got theairport closed and the
investigations happening.
And in fact, they're stillsearching for survivors in the
uh rubble of the affectedbuildings because the aircraft
(09:38):
crashed off site from theairport and there were some
on-the-ground injuries there.
I want to talk just for a fewminutes about the one of the
early press conferences uh thatI watched live as it was
happening.
And this was about two and ahalf hours after the incident
occurred, and the governorhosted the press conference, so
(10:00):
he was able to get on site anduh and host that press
conference.
And there were uh it was it wasquite a showing of leadership
for this particular pressconference, which lasted about
25 minutes.
There were nine differentstatements given by individuals
(10:22):
in that press conference.
So I'm just thinking about thelogistics and coordination of a
press conference with ninedifferent speakers after, you
know, in a crisis incident likethis.
And um, interestingly, UPS wasnot part of that press
conference.
Um, so there's some sort offood for thought there, but it
(10:44):
really was the governor, uh,director of emergency
management, uh, fire chief,police chief, elected officials
of various levels.
Um, Michelle, as you thinkabout that, uh to me it's quite
daunting when you've got, youknow, nine different people
speaking at a press conferenceand trying to stay focused,
(11:04):
deliver clear and concisemessaging to your stakeholders
out there.
How do you coach a company thatmaybe pulled into a press
conference like this in order tobe successful with their
participation?
Michele Ehrhart (11:20):
Well, I think the important part to realize
here is that it was not UPS'spress conference.
So it was a conference, pressconference that was called by
the you know, the leadership ofthe city of Louisville.
And I think it's great thatthey had such a showing and
solidarity of their leadership.
I think you said you hadcongressmen and the governor was
(11:43):
there, and the deputy mayor andand lots of people that showed
they were rallying around aterrible tragedy.
That that's all excellent.
I'm not sure everyone needed tospeak, because to your point,
this was a time of let's getcritical information out to the
masses.
Uh, but again, I wasn't in theroom to make that decision.
(12:05):
As far as UPS being in theroom, there's probably a lot of
perspectives on that.
At some point, I believe theywill be in the room, but at the
time, my guess is they wereworking the actual event.
Uh and bringing an UPSspokesperson into the room, they
didn't have much to offer.
They did read a statement.
(12:26):
Uh, so I don't know having ahaving a person there would have
made much difference at thatearly onset press conference.
Maybe the one later was anopportunity for a UPS
spokesperson to be there.
But again, I don't know thecircumstances around it.
I do think that the pressconference they did later in the
evening around the nine or 10o'clock time frame was very
succinct.
(12:47):
And it was the governor and itwas the mayor had gotten there
by that time, and the leaders ofthe first responding teams so
that there was actualinformation to be disseminated
to the public about what to donext, which is the purpose of
those press conferences.
It's great to add the empathyand to show the solidarity, but
(13:07):
it's really about gettingcrucial information out to the
people who are impacted.
Tom Mueller (13:13):
Yeah, that's absolutely right.
Terrific point there.
That's the point of the pressconference.
But they so often happen thesedays, they tend to get pirated a
little bit because it's anopportunity to get visibility in
front of the cameras, in frontof your constituents.
And that's why we saw, youknow, these nine different um
people, because you had uh onecongressman, a state senator, uh
(13:38):
a local city councilman.
You know, by the time they getto your comments, if you're the
ninth person in line, there'snot a lot more you can say or
add.
Um, but that's just the realityof the way these events go now.
And companies, of course, haveto be prepared to engage in
that.
And uh, you know, to get thereto be part of it, deliver your
(14:02):
messaging.
And of course, you want to saythank you to the first
responders who are helping toyou know deal with the tragic
incident on the ground.
Uh, you provide empathy forfolks who've been impacted by
this.
And it's an opportunity to tojust acknowledge your employees
and what they're feeling, whatthey're going through.
Michele Ehrhart (14:24):
Um I think there's a time for that though.
And and really at the beginningof all of this, having UPS
there almost took away fromhere's what you need to do, you
need a shelter in place.
We aren't sure what this plumeof smoke has in it.
Here's where we're telling youdo not come to the crime to the
(14:45):
scene of the accident becauseyou're hindering first
responders from getting topeople who could need our help.
You know, telling the publicwhat they need to do immediately
versus trying to determine onthe fly what caused it.
That was not the immediateneed.
The accident happened.
What caused it wasn't importantat that moment.
(15:05):
It was keeping everyone on theground safe.
Tom Mueller (15:08):
That came through pretty clearly in the press
conferences that I watchedthere.
That was the driving message.
Um, shelter in place, stay awayfrom the incident.
And as this progresses now inthe coming days and weeks, the
National Transportation SafetyBoard will, of course, take
ownership of the investigation.
(15:29):
And so the company that ownsthe aircraft then typically has
less and less to say as theinvestigation proceeds.
So we really get a glimpse oftheir crisis plans, you know, in
the first 24 hours after theincident, before the
investigation really takes overcommunications on that.
(15:51):
Well, there were a couple of umhighlights from the press
conference I just wanted to talkto briefly, uh, Michelle, and
just get your thoughts on.
Uh, one was the fire chief, uh,Louisville fire chief spoke,
and um by the way, all of thecrisis professionals who spoke
at that press conference justexuded confidence uh and
(16:14):
capability.
So you felt very assuredwatching this that these guys
were in control and takingcharge of this situation.
The fire chief, you know, hadabout a oh, I don't know, a
minute piece of the pressconference and a lot of good
information he was sharing uhfor stakeholders and and people
in the area.
(16:35):
But he went through it soquickly, it was just amazing.
I was thinking back to myreporter days.
If I was there with a padtrying to take notes from this
fire chief talking, it'shopeless.
Give it up.
My advice on that is just slowdown, chief, right?
If you're gonna participate inthat, slow it down, pause
(16:58):
occasionally in here and makesure people are getting your
full commentary.
What are your thoughts on that,Michelle?
Michele Ehrhart (17:06):
I hear you.
It and if you and I could getin a room with them prior to a
press conference and coach themthrough it, that's one thing.
But this really was live.
And he maybe he's a fasttalker, maybe he had a lot of
adrenaline and he had a lot tosay.
The good news is reportersrecord everything.
So they had a chance to atleast go back and slow it down
(17:27):
and hear it multiple times.
Ideally, you would have somecoaching for him beforehand, but
um, honestly, luckily for me, Inever went through that
experience at FedEx.
And I would not know how Iwould react.
I would hope I could be slowand articulate, but you know,
unfortunately, in a livesituation, you are you are at
(17:49):
the mercy of whatever'shappening in the room at that
moment.
Tom Mueller (17:53):
Well, and isn't that why we put our teams
through crisis exercises?
And we put those executives,those incident commanders in
front of the podium and grillthem with questions, right?
And get them prepared to dealwith high stress situations like
this so they can be mosteffective.
And that, of course, is thegoal here is you've got good
(18:14):
information.
We want to make sure you'representing it in a way that
everybody can um, you know, cancapture and take in easily.
Michele Ehrhart (18:22):
Absolutely.
Tom Mueller (18:24):
Hey, there's one other uh comment uh in that
press conference, and it was itreally, really touched me.
Um, and it was the the lastspokes or the last person who
spoke in this long line ofpeople speaking, but it was a
local city council person.
And um, their comment was verymuch to the neighborhood, uh, to
(18:49):
our friends and and colleaguesworking here.
We're all part of you know theUPS community here.
And he uh made a comment thatsaid something like, you know,
people are texting their friendstonight to try and you know
check in and make sureeveryone's okay.
And sadly, some of those textsare not going to be answered
(19:12):
tonight because people justaren't there.
And it was just such atouching, empathetic comment to
make um for the local community.
Your thoughts on on thatapproach?
Michele Ehrhart (19:28):
It's powerful.
I mean it said everythingpeople were feeling, and to hear
it from one of their communityleaders was even more impactful.
Now, back to our point ofhaving nine people speak at a
press conference.
I hope they got to the end andwere able to hear that statement
(19:48):
because I think that statementand the showing of empathy
really articulated what we werediscussing earlier.
Having the people in that roommade everyone watching feel some
level of comfort because theirleaders were paying attention to
this and rallying around aterrible incident.
(20:10):
And I felt like he articulatedreally the gravity of the
situation, the empathy of thesituation, and the community
aspect of the situation.
You and I are gonna go on withour lives much quick more
quickly than someone who livesin Louisville because we're not
living every day the aftermathof what is happening.
Tom Mueller (20:30):
Yeah, it was truly, truly touching.
Now, just to pull the lens backa little bit and look at uh the
overall press conference, thegovernor hosted again, as I
said.
Um, and you know, those keymessages around empathy, care,
and concern, and providingactionable information for
(20:51):
neighbors and people livingnearby all came through very
clearly.
You clearly see an executiveteam in the state who are well
trained, uh well plugged in andgetting the job done.
And that's one of the mostimportant things that we can see
in a situation like this.
Michele Ehrhart (21:10):
So especially when you don't have details,
when you don't have the answers,you're right.
Kudos to them for rallying theright people in the room with
strong messages and as muchinformation as they could
provide to the public about howto stay safe.
Tom Mueller (21:28):
Well, Michelle, thank you for joining us for
this episode of the podcast.
We really appreciate kind ofhearing your expertise, your
thoughts on uh what's happeningout here.
So thank you for joining us.
Michele Ehrhart (21:40):
I appreciate you having me.
And as I said before, this isthe scenario that in that field
you fear the most.
And I'm I couldn't say moregood things about the way UPS is
handling it because I know thatthey planned that work and
they're now working that plan.
Tom Mueller (21:57):
And that's gonna do it for this episode of the
Leading in a Crisis Podcast.
Thanks again for joining us.
If you'd like to email theshow, you can drop me an email
at Tom at Leadinginacrisis.com.
And we appreciate you.
We'll see you again on anotherepisode.
Hi everyone and welcome back to the Leading in a
Crisis Podcast.
We're happy to have you with usagain this week for another
exciting episode.
On our show today, we're goingto do a quick deep dive into a
crisis situation that's justdeveloping now, and that's the
plane crash of a United ParcelService aircraft that crashed on
(00:30):
takeoff in Louisville,Kentucky, here in the United
States.
This happened about 5:15 p.m.
on Tuesday night, which wasjust last night, so about 15
hours ago from now.
Now it crashed in Louisville,Kentucky.
That is UPS's main hub fortheir package processing here in
(00:53):
the United States.
So a significant potentialoperational impact on the
company there.
What we want to do is kind oftake a look at the crisis
communications aspect in theearly part of this response.
Now it has been a very tragicincident in that we have current
reports now of nine people deadas a result of the incident and
(01:17):
another 11 people injured.
So we have a crew of three onthe aircraft and people on the
ground who were injured.
So it's a horrific incident.
But again, this is thoseunexpected crisis situations
that can happen.
Our challenge as communicatorsis how do we respond to that
(01:38):
crisis?
Now on the show today, I have aspecial guest with expertise in
the package shipping industryand crisis communications in
general.
And she is Michelle Earhart.
Now, Michelle worked as vicepresident of global
communications for FedEx, who'sthe other large package carrier
(01:59):
here in the United States, andso has deep experience in this
industry.
Michelle also has a new bookout called Crisis Compass, which
we'll talk about on anotherepisode of the podcast.
But just know you've got apublished author here with us as
(02:19):
well as an expert in thisfield.
Michelle, thanks for joiningus.
Michele Ehrhart (02:24):
Tom, thanks for having me.
Tom Mueller (02:27):
So let's jump right into the Crisis Communications
response to the incident.
The incident occurred about5:15 p.m., as I mentioned.
The company had their firststatement issued about 6.40 p.m.
So it was about an hour and 25minutes after the crash
occurred, and they posted astatement on the X platform as
(02:50):
well as on their companywebsite.
The second statement, well,that first statement was the
basics of what you'd expect.
The we are aware of theincident message, and we are in
action responding.
The second message from thecompany came out about three
(03:10):
hours later, and that was themore empathetic statement that
included language that said,we're terribly saddened by
what's happened here, and it's ablow to our family here at UPS.
They also referenced the NTSBinvestigation.
Any aircraft crash here in theU.S.
(03:33):
will be investigated by theNational Transportation Safety
Board.
So the airlines really have togive deference to those.
And finally, they reference thefamily hotline for family
members who may be looking fortheir individuals.
So the company got twostatements out within about
three hours of the incident.
(03:53):
We did not see any videostatements from a senior
executive of the company or theCEO, which oftentimes you do see
in aircraft incidents.
So, Michelle, I want to pullyou in here now and uh get your
thoughts on this early crisiscommunications response here.
Michele Ehrhart (04:15):
Let me start by saying this.
Having worked in thetransportation industry for so
long, doing the type of work Idid, I know exactly what they're
probably working on because youcan't be UPS, FedEx, or any
other global company withouthaving a communications crisis
(04:37):
plan.
So, in my headline for you isthey're doing everything right.
I talk about in my book, what Icall the golden hour, where you
have a very short period oftime to acknowledge that
something has happened and thatyou are working on it.
And they did that.
And then they came back outbehind that with a little more
information, but they don't havea lot of information.
(04:59):
And if you think about thesequence of events that was
happening on the ground, therewas a shelter in place put in
place because of where the crashhappened and what it crashed
into.
And so they're trying to ensurethe safety of those in the
surrounding area.
I would imagine the timebetween the initial statement
(05:20):
and the one that was three hoursin is they were trying to get
all of the information theycould.
And that is the first line ofdefense when you're talking
about crisis communications.
I mean, the first thing youwant to do is acknowledge that
you are aware, and then thesecond is do no harm.
So you don't want to go outwith information too soon and
make the situation worse orspeculate or not have your
(05:45):
facts.
So I believe at this pointthey've done everything right.
And you commented about thelack of a leadership video.
You know, in my 22 years atFedEx, we never once went out
with a CEO video after a crisis,and and a lot of that has to do
with the nature of what thecrisis is, and and maybe later
(06:06):
there'll be an opportunity thatwould warrant the CEO to come
out, but I'm not at allsurprised by that or disturbed
by that.
I think it's probably part oftheir protocol, and they do have
one, and everyone in thisindustry does.
And you know, we spent so muchof our time in that crisis
communications area planning thework, and now you're working
(06:29):
the plan.
There is no perfect crisiscommunications plan because you
can't predict the exact thingthat will happen.
But I guarantee you, UPS has aplan that they have done drills
on, tabletop exercises, andthey've practiced.
And now they are putting outwhat they have practiced.
Tom Mueller (06:49):
And so far, so good on with their communications.
Now it's interesting.
Uh, I'm thinking about UPS inthis context as an airline
because what we're dealing withis an aircraft crash.
But in reality, this is reallya package delivery company that
happens to use aircraft.
And so it's a very differentapproach than you'd get from,
(07:12):
say, a United Airlines or aSouthwest Airlines, where
they're carrying several hundredpassengers on aircraft, and the
human impact of a crash withthose carriers uh would
necessarily be much larger.
So, in those cases, we do seethose CEO videos coming out
fairly quickly.
Michelle, as we think aboutwhat the teams are going through
(07:34):
right now, they're in thethroes of crisis response now.
With Louisville being thepackage hub for UPS, uh, it's
going to have a significantoperational impact on the
company.
And then the communicationshave to start reflecting what's
happening there operationally aswell.
So, from your perspective andexperience, what do you see sort
(07:58):
of happening in the backgroundthere now?
Michele Ehrhart (08:01):
I would imagine the team in their operations
area are looking at how do youdo business continuity?
Because while this did happenat their hub, and what was on
that plane was a total loss, andthey know exactly what was on
that plane.
The tracking and the technologyis so sophisticated, they will
contact anyone who had a packageon that plane and let them
(08:23):
know.
Beyond that, they're working tosecure the area, make sure that
people are safe, and then toget back operational as soon as
possible.
Because they do have a huboperation there where the
majority of their packages arelikely going through a
particular area and they want toget that continuity back.
(08:45):
They've built a brand onreliability and speed, and
they've got to get back to thatquickly.
Tom Mueller (08:51):
Okay, it's an excellent point because you're
right.
The business continuity plan isgoing to be activated alongside
your crisis communications planfor an incident like this, and
then trying to figure out do wehave um alternative locations
where we can process packagescoming in or all of that stuff
that's uh logistics, potentiallylogistics nightmare, I guess,
(09:15):
to keep it all rolling.
But hopefully, you know, theairport gets opened up uh again
quickly and they can resumeoperations.
But right now they've got theairport closed and the
investigations happening.
And in fact, they're stillsearching for survivors in the
uh rubble of the affectedbuildings because the aircraft
(09:38):
crashed off site from theairport and there were some
on-the-ground injuries there.
I want to talk just for a fewminutes about the one of the
early press conferences uh thatI watched live as it was
happening.
And this was about two and ahalf hours after the incident
occurred, and the governorhosted the press conference, so
(10:00):
he was able to get on site anduh and host that press
conference.
And there were uh it was it wasquite a showing of leadership
for this particular pressconference, which lasted about
25 minutes.
There were nine differentstatements given by individuals
(10:22):
in that press conference.
So I'm just thinking about thelogistics and coordination of a
press conference with ninedifferent speakers after, you
know, in a crisis incident likethis.
And um, interestingly, UPS wasnot part of that press
conference.
Um, so there's some sort offood for thought there, but it
(10:44):
really was the governor, uh,director of emergency
management, uh, fire chief,police chief, elected officials
of various levels.
Um, Michelle, as you thinkabout that, uh to me it's quite
daunting when you've got, youknow, nine different people
speaking at a press conferenceand trying to stay focused,
(11:04):
deliver clear and concisemessaging to your stakeholders
out there.
How do you coach a company thatmaybe pulled into a press
conference like this in order tobe successful with their
participation?
Michele Ehrhart (11:20):
Well, I think the important part to realize
here is that it was not UPS'spress conference.
So it was a conference, pressconference that was called by
the you know, the leadership ofthe city of Louisville.
And I think it's great thatthey had such a showing and
solidarity of their leadership.
I think you said you hadcongressmen and the governor was
(11:43):
there, and the deputy mayor andand lots of people that showed
they were rallying around aterrible tragedy.
That that's all excellent.
I'm not sure everyone needed tospeak, because to your point,
this was a time of let's getcritical information out to the
masses.
Uh, but again, I wasn't in theroom to make that decision.
(12:05):
As far as UPS being in theroom, there's probably a lot of
perspectives on that.
At some point, I believe theywill be in the room, but at the
time, my guess is they wereworking the actual event.
Uh and bringing an UPSspokesperson into the room, they
didn't have much to offer.
They did read a statement.
(12:26):
Uh, so I don't know having ahaving a person there would have
made much difference at thatearly onset press conference.
Maybe the one later was anopportunity for a UPS
spokesperson to be there.
But again, I don't know thecircumstances around it.
I do think that the pressconference they did later in the
evening around the nine or 10o'clock time frame was very
succinct.
(12:47):
And it was the governor and itwas the mayor had gotten there
by that time, and the leaders ofthe first responding teams so
that there was actualinformation to be disseminated
to the public about what to donext, which is the purpose of
those press conferences.
It's great to add the empathyand to show the solidarity, but
(13:07):
it's really about gettingcrucial information out to the
people who are impacted.
Tom Mueller (13:13):
Yeah, that's absolutely right.
Terrific point there.
That's the point of the pressconference.
But they so often happen thesedays, they tend to get pirated a
little bit because it's anopportunity to get visibility in
front of the cameras, in frontof your constituents.
And that's why we saw, youknow, these nine different um
people, because you had uh onecongressman, a state senator, uh
(13:38):
a local city councilman.
You know, by the time they getto your comments, if you're the
ninth person in line, there'snot a lot more you can say or
add.
Um, but that's just the realityof the way these events go now.
And companies, of course, haveto be prepared to engage in
that.
And uh, you know, to get thereto be part of it, deliver your
(14:02):
messaging.
And of course, you want to saythank you to the first
responders who are helping toyou know deal with the tragic
incident on the ground.
Uh, you provide empathy forfolks who've been impacted by
this.
And it's an opportunity to tojust acknowledge your employees
and what they're feeling, whatthey're going through.
Michele Ehrhart (14:24):
Um I think there's a time for that though.
And and really at the beginningof all of this, having UPS
there almost took away fromhere's what you need to do, you
need a shelter in place.
We aren't sure what this plumeof smoke has in it.
Here's where we're telling youdo not come to the crime to the
(14:45):
scene of the accident becauseyou're hindering first
responders from getting topeople who could need our help.
You know, telling the publicwhat they need to do immediately
versus trying to determine onthe fly what caused it.
That was not the immediateneed.
The accident happened.
What caused it wasn't importantat that moment.
(15:05):
It was keeping everyone on theground safe.
Tom Mueller (15:08):
That came through pretty clearly in the press
conferences that I watchedthere.
That was the driving message.
Um, shelter in place, stay awayfrom the incident.
And as this progresses now inthe coming days and weeks, the
National Transportation SafetyBoard will, of course, take
ownership of the investigation.
(15:29):
And so the company that ownsthe aircraft then typically has
less and less to say as theinvestigation proceeds.
So we really get a glimpse oftheir crisis plans, you know, in
the first 24 hours after theincident, before the
investigation really takes overcommunications on that.
(15:51):
Well, there were a couple of umhighlights from the press
conference I just wanted to talkto briefly, uh, Michelle, and
just get your thoughts on.
Uh, one was the fire chief, uh,Louisville fire chief spoke,
and um by the way, all of thecrisis professionals who spoke
at that press conference justexuded confidence uh and
(16:14):
capability.
So you felt very assuredwatching this that these guys
were in control and takingcharge of this situation.
The fire chief, you know, hadabout a oh, I don't know, a
minute piece of the pressconference and a lot of good
information he was sharing uhfor stakeholders and and people
in the area.
(16:35):
But he went through it soquickly, it was just amazing.
I was thinking back to myreporter days.
If I was there with a padtrying to take notes from this
fire chief talking, it'shopeless.
Give it up.
My advice on that is just slowdown, chief, right?
If you're gonna participate inthat, slow it down, pause
(16:58):
occasionally in here and makesure people are getting your
full commentary.
What are your thoughts on that,Michelle?
Michele Ehrhart (17:06):
I hear you.
It and if you and I could getin a room with them prior to a
press conference and coach themthrough it, that's one thing.
But this really was live.
And he maybe he's a fasttalker, maybe he had a lot of
adrenaline and he had a lot tosay.
The good news is reportersrecord everything.
So they had a chance to atleast go back and slow it down
(17:27):
and hear it multiple times.
Ideally, you would have somecoaching for him beforehand, but
um, honestly, luckily for me, Inever went through that
experience at FedEx.
And I would not know how Iwould react.
I would hope I could be slowand articulate, but you know,
unfortunately, in a livesituation, you are you are at
(17:49):
the mercy of whatever'shappening in the room at that
moment.
Tom Mueller (17:53):
Well, and isn't that why we put our teams
through crisis exercises?
And we put those executives,those incident commanders in
front of the podium and grillthem with questions, right?
And get them prepared to dealwith high stress situations like
this so they can be mosteffective.
And that, of course, is thegoal here is you've got good
(18:14):
information.
We want to make sure you'representing it in a way that
everybody can um, you know, cancapture and take in easily.
Michele Ehrhart (18:22):
Absolutely.
Tom Mueller (18:24):
Hey, there's one other uh comment uh in that
press conference, and it was itreally, really touched me.
Um, and it was the the lastspokes or the last person who
spoke in this long line ofpeople speaking, but it was a
local city council person.
And um, their comment was verymuch to the neighborhood, uh, to
(18:49):
our friends and and colleaguesworking here.
We're all part of you know theUPS community here.
And he uh made a comment thatsaid something like, you know,
people are texting their friendstonight to try and you know
check in and make sureeveryone's okay.
And sadly, some of those textsare not going to be answered
(19:12):
tonight because people justaren't there.
And it was just such atouching, empathetic comment to
make um for the local community.
Your thoughts on on thatapproach?
Michele Ehrhart (19:28):
It's powerful.
I mean it said everythingpeople were feeling, and to hear
it from one of their communityleaders was even more impactful.
Now, back to our point ofhaving nine people speak at a
press conference.
I hope they got to the end andwere able to hear that statement
(19:48):
because I think that statementand the showing of empathy
really articulated what we werediscussing earlier.
Having the people in that roommade everyone watching feel some
level of comfort because theirleaders were paying attention to
this and rallying around aterrible incident.
(20:10):
And I felt like he articulatedreally the gravity of the
situation, the empathy of thesituation, and the community
aspect of the situation.
You and I are gonna go on withour lives much quick more
quickly than someone who livesin Louisville because we're not
living every day the aftermathof what is happening.
Tom Mueller (20:30):
Yeah, it was truly, truly touching.
Now, just to pull the lens backa little bit and look at uh the
overall press conference, thegovernor hosted again, as I
said.
Um, and you know, those keymessages around empathy, care,
and concern, and providingactionable information for
(20:51):
neighbors and people livingnearby all came through very
clearly.
You clearly see an executiveteam in the state who are well
trained, uh well plugged in andgetting the job done.
And that's one of the mostimportant things that we can see
in a situation like this.
Michele Ehrhart (21:10):
So especially when you don't have details,
when you don't have the answers,you're right.
Kudos to them for rallying theright people in the room with
strong messages and as muchinformation as they could
provide to the public about howto stay safe.
Tom Mueller (21:28):
Well, Michelle, thank you for joining us for
this episode of the podcast.
We really appreciate kind ofhearing your expertise, your
thoughts on uh what's happeningout here.
So thank you for joining us.
Michele Ehrhart (21:40):
I appreciate you having me.
And as I said before, this isthe scenario that in that field
you fear the most.
And I'm I couldn't say moregood things about the way UPS is
handling it because I know thatthey planned that work and
they're now working that plan.
Tom Mueller (21:57):
And that's gonna do it for this episode of the
Leading in a Crisis Podcast.
Thanks again for joining us.
If you'd like to email theshow, you can drop me an email
at Tom at Leadinginacrisis.com.
And we appreciate you.
We'll see you again on anotherepisode.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Male Room with Dr. Jesse Mills
As Director of The Men’s Clinic at UCLA, Dr. Jesse Mills has spent his career helping men understand their bodies, their hormones, and their health. Now he’s bringing that expertise to The Male Room — a podcast where data-driven medicine meets common sense. Each episode separates fact from hype, science from snake oil, and gives men the tools to live longer, stronger, and happier lives. With candor, humor, and real-world experience from the exam room and the operating room, Dr. Mills breaks down the latest health headlines, dissects trends, and explains what actually works — and what doesn’t. Smart, straightforward, and entertaining, The Male Room is the show that helps men take charge of their health without the jargon.