KKIA conducts full-scale aircraft crash exercise
Published on: Friday, August 12, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: Images of black smoke rising near the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) created a stir on social media, Thursday, but it turned out to be a full-scale aircraft crash exercise to evaluate the effectiveness of the airport's emergency response.The exercise involved more than 800 personnel including airport workers, the police, Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), Ministry of Health, Fire and Rescue Department, Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), Ministry of Transport, Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), Customs Department, Immigration Department, Civil Defence Department, Red Crescent, St. John's Ambulance, AirAsia as the main ground handler, and even public businesses located in close proximity to the airport.For the drill, a fake aircraft fuselage was set on fire next to the runway, behind the airport's hangar.
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About 150 mock victims from Kolej Sains Kesihatan Bersekutu Kota Kinabalu and AirAsia acted as casualties, giving them a front row seat at what disaster can look like.The 'victims', painted with fake wounds and given acting instructions, were strewn all over the field as firefighters battled the fire while rescue workers assessed patients and helped wounded victims off the field.The wounded were then transported to the Fire and Rescue Department Air Disaster Unit (ADU) premise and hospitals where emergency room personnel practised their response to a mass casualty incident.In the meantime, about 40 volunteers from Malaysia Airport Sdn Bhd (MASB) who acted as victims' next of kin confronted ground staff at the airport, part of the simulation of crowd handling.
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"This exercise is important to ensure all parties are well equipped and trained to deal with an emergency such as this."Through thorough practice, we hope all action can be taken smoothly and safely in a concerted manner.
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"The coordination and communications between agencies will also be tested for further improvements," said Senior Airport Manager Sunif Naiman.The exercise, he said, needs to be done once every two years with partial exercises conducted in between.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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