A worker who sent Hawaii's false missile alert has reportedly been reassigned, not fired.

The civil defense employee "feels terrible" about the situation.

A two-step process is in place to send out alerts.



The worker who sent a false missile alert to Hawaiian residents on Saturday has reportedly been reassigned.

The civil defence employee has been moved to another role, but not fired, according to multiple media reports.

In a press conference on Saturday, the head of Hawaii's Emergency Management Agency, Vern Miyagi, said the worker "feels terrible."

"This guy feels bad, right. He's not doing this on purpose — it was a mistake on his part and he feels terrible about it," Miyagi said.

The worker had been completing a shift change at the time of the alert and, according to the Washington Post, was using a drop-down menu that gave two similar options: “Test missile alert” and “Missile alert.” Instead of selecting a system test, the worker sent a real alert.

Hawaii Governor David Ige confirmed on the weekend that the employee had "pushed the wrong button."

At the Saturday press conference, Miyagi made it clear that to send such an alert, someone would have to go through two steps, including a screen that says "Are you sure you want to do this?"

The Post also confirmed that there are no plans to fire the employee.

Ige released a statement on Sunday saying that "steps have been taken" to improve the alert process and that a false alarm "will never happen again."