Gerenciamento de Crises: o caso do acidente no centro de lançamento de Alcântara em agosto de 2003

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the accident that occurred at the Alcântara Launch Center, in august 2003, in light of what the specialized literature says on crises and their management. In the first part of the paper, a review of a selection of academic works on the theme is presented. The selection was made based on works that had previously studied and synthesized the theme of crisis and related issues. A synthesis of the reviewed literature is then presented, with the objective of defining crises, their typologies and phases, and the best practices to prevent or manage them. The methodology adopted for this article was the case study of the abovementioned accident. Thus, this paper then presents a summarized view of the sequence of events which led to the serious accident at the launch center in august 2003. In the third part, the paper aims at classifying the 2003 accident as a crisis, and its typology, according to the findings of the literature review. In the conclusion, the issue of what can be done, if anything, to predict and prevent similar occurrences in the future is addressed.