MID North Coast emergency crews were given an operational refresher in an important bi-annual excercise at the Port Macquarie Airport on December 5.
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Crews from police, ambulance, fire and SES converged on Port Macquarie Airport to test the airport’s emergency plan.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) requires that certified airports such as Port Macquarie, must have a field exercise to test the Airport Emergency Procedures (AEP) every two years.
This year, the live exercise CRASHEX 2017, consisted of live field activation of the Port Macquarie Airport Aerodrome Emergency Plan (AEP) followed by an exercise to discuss airline activation of secondary facilitation requirements if an emergency were to occur.
Port Macquarie-Hastings SES deputy controller, Michael Brumby, said it was a very beneficial day.
“It makes us aware of the response plan the airport has for those sorts of incidents, and it was quite collaborative with the other emergency services,” he said.
“The biggest thing we gained would be the coordination and control of those incidents, getting a better understanding of the part we can play in the SES. That was most beneficial for us.”
The exercise scenario this year was designed to familiarise emergency services participants with the Port Macquarie AEP, and focus on a scenario involving a regular public transport aircraft type that is common at Port Macquarie airport.
