A copy-paste apology signals unreliability
While aviation investigators are still trying to figure out what caused the tragic crash of Air India-171 in Ahmedabad, a litany of other embarrassing blunders have emerged, not least of which was the CEO's condolence message that was almost identical to an American Airlines statement made after a plane went down in Washington five months ago. In the June 12 video, the CEO of Air India appeared looking stiff, his bland platitudes of a 'difficult time' and 'doing everything we can' falling flat in the immediate aftermath of heartrending sorrow. Though Air India did not address the plagiarism claim, it acknowledged it had drawn examples from other crashes.
To be sure, at the time, nothing anyone said could have provided solace. However, when netizens pointed out the striking similarities between the two notes and accusations of plagiarism began trending online, it struck at every cynical Indian's heart like a cruel joke. It's not merely the lack of originality that's offensive, rather, the bitter realisation that even at such a disastrous moment, leaders can't be relied on to speak the plain truth or display sincere empathy.
It's a toss up on what's worse — speculation that ChatGPT wrote that message or somebody from the airline actually dug out the American Airlines statement and handed it to the CEO to read out. There's a thought floating around that in today's litigious, social media-driven world, an adherence to protocol even during a desperate crisis, comes first. Indeed, circumspection is required when dealing with a distressed public and facts remain unknown; in which case, borrowing heavily from other post-accident scenarios and then getting caught out makes no sense at all. The most underused sentences in the English language are 'I am sorry' and 'I don't know'. Our fears are rarely assuaged by phony assurances or hatchet jobs to contain a situation. During terrible events, people have a heightened instinct for sussing out inaccuracies — a policy of complete transparency is a step towards rebuilding trust in institutions.
Hours after the twin towers fell in New York on September 11, 2001, then Mayor Rudy Giuliani had to answer the inevitable question: how many were lost? He appeared to brace himself before quietly replying that the number of casualties 'will be more than any of us can bear'. His spare words didn't gloss over peoples' sufferings. Yet, he conveyed his tireless support. Over the next few weeks, he attended five funerals a day.The world also remembers Jacinda Ardern, then PM of New Zealand, for the exemplary compassion she showed after the horrific Christchurch mosque massacre. Leadership during tragedy is a mixture of relentlessly working a way back to stability, while participating in the rites we live by.
It's impossible to look at the randomness of this airline crash and not realise how tenuous our foothold on earth really is. Intellectually, we may know loss is omnipresent. A twist in fate means some unlucky people are forced to confront this reality in discombobulating ways. What do we glean from the sidelines when lives are brutally cut short this way? That devastation always lurks frighteningly close; the dreams we have, the paths we take are all relatively transient. Quite innocently, we trust in the uncertain, it's the only choice to live with some measure of happiness. Whatever eventually emerges about the final minutes of the crash, the last fortnight has revealed those in charge don't have the luxury of reflecting on it in isolation. A tragedy of this scale involves us all.
The writer is director, Hutkay Films
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