Kerala: Full-scale aerodrome emergency exercise conducted at T’puram International Airport

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], October 12 (ANI): Full-scale aerodrome emergency exercise (FSAEE) was conducted at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport “to deal with emergency situations on a real-time basi.”

Thiruvananthapuram International Airport under the aegis of Thiruvananthapuram District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) conducted Phoenix 2023, the biennial scheduled full-scale aerodrome emergency exercise (FSAEE) at the airport on Wednesday.

“The airport conducted the exercise keeping in mind the safety, security, and passenger well-being, by slotting it during a lean period in the airport operations. These statutory drills are in line with continuous efforts by the airport to deal with emergency situations on a real time basis,” Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Ltd (TIAL) said in a statement.

Experts from Kerala Police, Fire Force and hospitals actively participated in the exercise.

This full-scale, simulated exercise is in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and as per the specific recommendation of Ministry of Civil Aviation, the TIAL said.

The 2-hour-long exercise was the culmination of the 180-day preparations and revolved around a pre-defined, specific scenario that the airport decided and executed accordingly, it said.

The exercise involved collaborative actions by various stakeholders involved with the airport operation and they responded as per the roles and responsibilities assigned to them. DGCA mandates airports to hold the exercise every second year, the statement said.

The objective of the exercise is to strengthen and validate the efficiency and efficacy of the airport operator and stakeholders in dealing with an actual emergency. The exercise also strove to strengthen and validate the process set up in the aerodrome emergency response plan, TIAL said.

The exercise was a testimony of the role of airlines and evaluated whether procedures followed by stakeholders were benchmarked to industry standards to handle an emergency systematically.

Domain experts from DDMA and the aviation sector, who donned the role of observers recorded the reaction and response of various stakeholders to the created emergency scenario. The observers appreciated the airport for its initiative to plan different emergency scenarios for the exercise, which will give stakeholders confidence to tackle any situation, TIAL said.