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Here’s a surefire way for an airport to lose Facebook followers

An airport outside of London is learning that posting a photo of a plane accident on its Facebook page was probably the stupidest thing ever.

 

Jordan Valinsky

Internet Culture

Posted on Mar 14, 2013   Updated on Jun 1, 2021, 9:41 pm CDT

An airport outside of London is learning that posting a photo of a plane accident on its Facebook page was probably the stupidest thing ever.

London Luton, a small airport 40 miles north of the English capital city, is apologizing “unreservedly” after a picture showing the aftermath of plane crash at Chicago Midway Airport from 2005 was posted with an inappropriate caption bragging about its safety procedures.

“Because we are such a super airport…this is what we prevent you from when it snows…Weeeee :),” it said.

Huffington Post U.K. grabbed a screenshot of the posting that showed the moments after a Southwest Airlines 737 glided off a snowy runway and killed a child in a nearby vehicle.

The post remained online for about an hour Wednesday morning. An airport spokeswoman is apologizing for the post, calling it “unacceptable and insensitive.” They shoved the blame on a new and overeager employee looking to maintain the page’s off-kilter humor.

“We have Social Media guidelines that clearly outline what is acceptable, however in this instance a new, over-enthusiastic member of our support team made an honest but misguided mistake and clearly stepped over the line,” the spokesperson said.

H/T Huffington Post U.K. | Photo via Facebook

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*First Published: Mar 14, 2013, 1:38 pm CDT