WASHINGTON – The false alert of a missile attack that caused chaos in Hawaii in January was the result of human error, outdated technology and not enough planning, officials said Thursday at a hearing in Honolulu.
Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democrat, and Federal Communications Commission member Jessica Rosenworcel pushed the federal government to take responsibility for missile attack alerts.
“A missile attack is not a local concern,” Schatz said. “It’s the federal government that knows if a missile is coming, so they should be the ones who alert the people.”
In February, Schatz introduced legislation that would require the federal government to take responsibility for alerting the public in the case of a missile attack.
On Jan. 13 2018, a Hawaii Emergency Management Agency employee mistakenly sent an alert to more than a million Hawaiian residents and tourists during a drill that created chaos and panic.
The employee who sent the alert believed the attack was real; he was fired.
But the false alert turned out to be more than a one-time human mistake. It revealed a flaw in the emergency alert system both on a state and federal level.
Maj. Gen. Arthur “Joe” Logan, the head of the state Department of Defense, said part of the reason the alert system failed was that the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency began implementing its plan before it was entirely drafted.
“We started flying the plane before we built the whole plan,” Logan told the committee.
Logan said it was hastily implemented because of North Korea’s repeated ballistic missile threats and the danger it posed to Hawaii.
“From January through November 2016, North Korea tested a nuclear device and fired some 20 ballistic missiles…In January 2017, the administrator of HIEMA and I discussed our concerns about this and recommended that we plan and prepare for this threat,” he said.
Rosenworcel also pointed to the outdated technology used in the emergency alert system.
“Hawaii’s plan was over a decade old,” she said. “There are no software checks to differentiate between a test and live alert.”
She suggested the Federal Communications Commission begin an annual review of states’ emergency system and make sure every plan is up to date.