March 22, 2016 Statement – Brussels, Belgium

March 22, 2016

Statement from NATCA President Paul Rinaldi and Executive Vice President Trish Gilbert, delivered this morning at NATCA’s Communicating for Safety conference in Las Vegas:

Brothers and sisters, we were shocked and deeply saddened to awake this morning to the tragic news of a terrorist attack in Brussels, Belgium.

There were two explosions at the Brussels airport near check-in areas in one terminal. Less than an hour later, there was another explosion at a metro station near the headquarters of the European Union. According to the latest report, a total of at least 31 people have died and more than 170 are injured.

Today’s events are chilling to all of us who value human life around the world.

NATCA’s Critical Incident Stress Management team is here in a booth in the exhibit hall with us at CFS this week. Whether today or any day, CISM is always available to our members to help them manage stress that may be experienced following a critical incident. Also for our international colleagues here today, we encourage you to utilize their resources if you need them.

Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have lost their loved ones, and also with those who have been injured.

Please join us for a moment of silence as we mourn this senseless, tragic loss of human life.