Mumbai: Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) and India’s national carrier Air India (AI) jointly conducted a full-scale emergency exercise today at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) to test the response of the airport emergency- response system.
Called Operation Vijay and held between 10am and 1pm, the drill involved all response departments of GVK MIAL operations to assess and evaluate the preparedness of MIAL and its stakeholders at CSIA in handling an emergency situation. The drill included evacuation and rescue, fire-fighting, medical services and communications.
To add a sense of reality to the drill, 150 volunteers acted as visitors, injured passengers and flight crew. The Indian Navy also participated in the exercise by providing MIAL with a helicopter that was used to airlift two passengers and transfer them to hospitals. A total of 600 people participated in the exercise.
As per the International Civil Aviation Organisation and Directorate General of Civil Aviation regulations, it is mandatory for all airports and airlines globally to hold this kind of exercise.
The drill provided an opportunity for the response teams from CSIA’s various units, including fire and emergency services, terminals, airside operations, engineering and maintenance, security and medical services, to put their emergency training to the test. The exercise also measured the preparedness of local emergency response units as well as gave a platform for the airline to test its emergency response in a real time scenario.
Around nine major hospitals, 16 ambulance services and government organisations such as immigration, customs, Central Industrial Security Force, police, and the civic body’s disaster management cell participated in the exercise.
The exercise did not affect airline operations at CSIA.
