Trouble in Paradise: Mutual Awareness, Teamwork, and Hawaii False Ballistic Missile Alert

At 8:07 a.m. on January 13, 2018, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency transmitted a false ballistic missile alert via cellphone, television, and radio throughout the state of Hawaii. Stating, “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL,” the alert created widespread panic. Finally, after 38 minutes, a second message was issued, assuring the public that the alert was false. Initial speculation attributed the occurrence to human error in which the emergency officer inadvertently selected the option to elicit an actual alert rather than the mock drill alert. The emergency worker believed the attack to be real due to what he perceived to be a mistake in the means by which the drill was initiated during a shift change. The employee reported that he did not hear the word “exercise” repeated during the drill. Fellow coworkers reported that they had clearly heard the word during the drill. Investigations opened by the Federal Communications Commission, Hawaii House of Representatives, and Hawaii Department of Defense uncovered a critical lack of training and training records management, as well as poor and inconsistent work procedures and processes within both the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Additionally, the investigation highlighted a decade of consistent performance issues for work carried out by the emergency officer. This paper will examine the Hawaii Missile False Alarm Incident in greater detail with a focus on the contributing human factors. Specifically, this review presents the many aspects of mutual awareness that were present and addresses how each type plays a critical role in the cooperation and team-specific behaviors carried out within both the crew dynamic and the operations between the two emergency management agencies and their employees.