The recently upgraded Hurghada International Airport with General Manager Pilot Gaad Al Karim successfully absolved a Full Scale Exercise (FSE) for the year 2010. The entire exercise was managed by FSE Manager Mohamed Emeesh who spent 4 months working on the preparations for this important event that has to be applied every 2 years to have the airport certified by ICA (International Civil Aviation) and ECAA (Egyptian Civil Aviation Association) and licensed to operate International flights.
The number of passengers handled at the airport increased 2008 by 13% and 2009 by 30% making an upgrade of Hurghada International Airport necessary. Now the airport can handle 7.5 Million passengers per year and even the biggest planes such as the airbus 380 can be accepted.
What Is a Full Scale Exercise?
- Interactive exercise, designed to challenge the entire emergency management system in a highly realistic and stressful environment.
- Tests and evaluates most functions of the emergency management plan or operational plan.
- Takes place in an EOC (Emergency Operations Center) or other operating center and at field sites.
- Achieves realism through:
· On-scene actions and decisions.
· Simulated “victims.”
· Search and rescue requirements.
· Communication devices.
· Equipment deployment.
· Actual resource and personnel allocation.
- Involves controller(s), players, simulators (different from simulators in a functional exercise), and evaluators.
- Players represent all levels of personnel, including response personnel.
- Messages may be visual (e.g., staged scenes, made-up victims, props) and scripted.
- All decisions and actions by players occur in real time and generate real responses and consequences from other players.
There are 11 scenarios for a FSE, the one chosen for Hurghada International Airport was that the left back under carriage (wheel) was blocked and the plane had to land on 1 wheel only, leading to a crash on the runway.
Below the steps of the Scenario chosen (duration 60 min, preparation time 4 months, 7 advance meetings with ECAA and airport management to follow up the scenario from day -120 till day -0):
§ Pilot informs the ATC (air traffic controller) of the problem.
§ ATC informs the airport manager
§ GM gives orders for all departments in the airport to counteract the crisis
§ Emergency store is opened
§ Airport command post is moved by directing all the support vehicles of the airport to the staging point.
According to the cooperation report external delegates of the airport such as traffic police, city fire fighting and government emergency (the crisis room is operating 24/7) were coordinated. Within 11 minutes all the support teams were at the airport.
§ Aircraft with flight number xxx, registration number xxx and destination xxx landed on right wheel only, finally came to a stop 300 m from the runway with the left engine on fire.
§ Within 2 minutes the fire fighting units were on the spot and had the fire on the aircraft under control. The fire fighters evacuated the passengers
§ The Mobile airport command post was installed, an operational mobile unit with a complete office having access to all grid maps, as well as AIB (Accident Investigation Bureau - updated procedures of the airport, emergency plan, reporting of all activities to the crisis center and airport manager, international lines, internal telephone cell, VHF, megaphone) was installed.
§ Commander, Chief of Police, Medical Coordinator, Security, Operation Auditor and Fire Fighting Chief.
§ Of the 100 passenger 37 survived unharmed, 38 required medical treatment and were classified according to severity of injury and treated in 2 zones, 15 in the red zone (3 to be flown out by air ambulance, 1 emergency operation on the spot in the operation unit, 11 in critical condition, to be taken to the hospitals immediately), 23 in the yellow zone (not in critical condition, to be taken to hospitals after receiving first aid).
§ 25 passenger died and were brought to the black zone
33 ambulances (3 from the airport + 25 from the Ministry of Health + 5 from private hospitals), 12 fire engines (7 airport fire engines and 5 fire enginges from the city), 1 water tanker from the city council, in total 75 vehicles and 300 helpers.
The team of auditors of ECAA was very satisfied with the good effort and successful execution of the Full Scale Exercise performed by the Egyptian Airports Company (EAC) with Chairman Medhat Hendawy, the General Manager of Hurghada Airport Pilot General Gaad Al Karim and his staff directed by Mr. Emeesh, Airport Safety Manager.
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