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CJIA hosts biennial exercise to test emergency response capabilities
A biennial emergency exercise was held at Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) on Wednesday to test the airport’s ability to handle a plane crash scenario.
Members of the Guyana Defence Force during a demonstration exercise at the biennial emergency training, held recently at CJIA.
By the end of the one-and-a-half hour exercise, CJIA demonstrated successfully its capabilities in responding to and then securing the crash site. More than 200 representatives from 11 Government departments and organisations took part, with 35 playing the role of passengers and six as crew members.
The exercise began at midday when a notional flight had a hard landing on the main runway. The landing resulted in the aircraft veering to the left of the runway, triggering an explosion.
The air traffic control tower witnessed the accident and immediately activated the crash alarm, alerting relevant parties. The Airport Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) was also activated to facilitate communications and effective coordination.
A total of 39 simulated injuries and two deaths were reported. As part of the airport’s medical response procedures, the injured were sent to Diamond and Georgetown Public hospitals. Passengers and crew members were taken to a Care Centre located at a hangar at the airport.
Responding agencies were CJIA, the Guyana Defence Force, Guyana Police Force, Airport Fire Service, Customs and Immigration, Airport Security Unit, Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, Diamond Diagnostic Centre, Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, Airport Operators/Airlines, the Civil Defence Commission and Port Health.
David Patterson, Minister of Public Infrastructure, witnessed the exercise and was impressed with what he saw.
“Such an exercise provides a valuable opportunity for the whole airport community to test their readiness during an emergency. I must commend the stakeholders for their active participation, together with the lessons and experience gained today, will help us refine our contingency measures and better prepare us for future challenges,” he stated.
Marco Farure, Supervisor of COPA Airlines gave the exercise a positive grade.
According to him, it was evident that the agencies were prepared.
We can’t expect perfection in a drill, but I am very satisfied that the airport has systems in place if we had a crash,” he added.
Similar sentiments were expressed by Gregory Wickham, Timehri Fire Station’s Divisional Officer (Operations) and Ian Amsterdam, Deputy Commander of ‘A’ Division. Both were pleased with the response time to douse the flames and the security measures implemented.
The emergency is crucial to analyze the effectiveness of the airport community, Government departments and relevant organisations, in dealing with aircraft accidents, and to practice their intra- and inter-organisational emergency responses and communications.
“Safety is the airport’s top priority at all times,” said Ramesh Ghir, the airport’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO). “At CJIAC, we promote this by establishing guidelines, best practices, staff training, promotional campaigns and performance targets for the whole airport community.”
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