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Date Published: 07/03/2024

Murcia emergency services stage air crash drill at Corvera Airport

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250 people took part in the training exercise, which simulated what would happen in the event of a plane crashing near Murcia Airport

Murcia emergency services stage air crash drill at Corvera Airport

Anyone flying in or out of the Region of Murcia International Airport today, Thursday March 7, may have been alarmed to see fire crews and rescue workers swarming around near the airport apparently treating a number of injured people.

But there’s no need to panic. This was a general aeronautical emergency drill bring carried out as part of the airport’s Emergency Plan in accordance with ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) regulations.

The aim of the exercise, according to airport management company Aena, is to “check and evaluate the action and coordination procedures established in the Airport’s Self-Protection Plan, including analysing the effectiveness of the procedures and the degree of knowledge and integration of all the groups involved, both internal and external, in dealing with an aeronautical emergency.”

This training exercise consisted of a simulation of an air accident in which an A319 type aircraft with 100 people on board (95 passengers and 5 crew members) lost altitude on starting the landing manoeuvre and ended up making a forced landing 4.5km from the runway. As a result, so went the simulation scenario, a number of people were injured to varying degrees and several people died.

None of the programmed flights in or out of the airport today were affected by the drill.

It came just one day after Ryanair announced that there would be a surprise extra flight route this summer, to Marrakesh (Morocco), and another one possibly coming to Ostrava (Czech Republic).

The simulation began when the Control Tower ‘detected’ the accident, alerting the CEOPS (Operations Centre) and the Airport Fire and Rescue Services, who were the first to arrive at the scene.

After assessing the situation, the situation was reported to the Main Command Post, which declared a general emergency and requested outside assistance. From that moment on, the rest of the command posts were activated, setting in motion the entire emergency response chain, with the activation of the Territorial Civil Protection Plan for the Region of Murcia (PLATEMUR).

The first airport teams that were sent to the scene of the simulation were joined by members of the Fuente Álamo Local Police and the Guardia Civil, as well as firefighters and ambulances. To make the exercise more realistic, extras were used to simulate the injured.

Also, the Family Room located within the airport terminal itself was included in the drill, with extras playing the role of family members of passengers and crew members with varying levels of anxiety who needed to receive psychological care.

All in all, around 250 people took part in the training exercise, which helps ensure that the necessary emergency response teams are ready in case the worst should happen.

Images: Aena