The alert text message reads "Ballistic missiles approaching Hawaii", asking people to seek shelter urgently, and emphasizing that "this is not a drill." By 8:45 a.m., people in Hawaii received a clarification notice via text message on their mobile phones, explaining that the first warning issued earlier was wrong and proved to be a false alarm. Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz called the false alarm "inexcusable." Hawaii Governor David Ige said the false missile alert was caused by human error. During a shift change, an employee made a mistake in standard procedure and mistakenly pressed the missile alert button. .
On the 13th of this month, a missile warning was issued in Hawaii, and locals panicked after receiving the warning. It took 40 minutes for the authorities to clarify that it was a false alarm. The Hawaii state government was strongly criticized afterwards.
(Washington Comprehensive News) The preliminary results of the U.S. investigation into the false alarm missile attack in Hawaii showed that human error and the lack of preventive measures were the main reasons for the incident.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s investigation report released on the 30th pointed out that Hawaii’s mistaken missile warning was caused by the personnel on duty at the time who mistakenly took the exercise seriously and triggered the alarm button. The person on duty has been fired, and the director of Hawaii's Emergency Management Agency has resigned.
The report also criticized the Hawaii state government for being slow to correct errors after the incident, exacerbating the chaos.
On the 13th of this month, a missile warning was issued in Hawaii, and locals panicked after receiving the warning. It took 40 minutes for the authorities to clarify that it was a false alarm. The Hawaii state government was strongly criticized afterwards.
Reports indicate that a lack of communication from the Hawaii State Emergency Management Agency during a shift change led to this critical error.
It is understood that the Hawaii State Emergency Management Agency has been conducting simulation exercises related to missile attacks in the past period of time. During the drill on the 13th, a night shift supervisor pretended to be the U.S. Pacific Command and called the staff on duty at 8:05 that morning to inform the staff on duty of an incoming missile. Due to negligence, the staff on duty only heard "This is not a drill." He didn't hear the word "train" being repeated over and over again, so an alert was sent without the presence of superiors.
People's mobile phones then received an alert, saying that a missile was attacking Hawaii, and they were asked to immediately enter air raid shelters or shelters to take shelter. Television and radio stations also issued the alert. Many people were frightened by the sudden news, some were preparing to flee their homes, and some schools started evacuation procedures.
The Director of the Emergency Management Agency later stated that he was "solely responsible" for the incident and resigned on the 30th. The employee who sent the missile attack warning was fired on the 26th, and another employee responsible for notifying the public of security threats was suspended.
The report pointed out that the fired staff had "poor performance" and had been "concerned" over the past 10 years. "He was unable to understand the situation at hand and on at least two occasions confused real events with drills," the report said. In a separate report, the FCC said the employee claimed he believed the threat was It was true, he didn't know it was a drill.