LPIA emergency drill on December 2, 2015. (BIS Photos/Raymond A. Bethel, Sr.)
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NASSAU, The
Bahamas -- Approximately 100 members of emergency response and investigative teams
joined Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD) at Lynden Pindling
International Airport (LPIA) to conduct a full scale, three-hour emergency
drill, on December 2, 2015 at Windsor Field.
The drill
took place on a vacant runway to simulate an aircraft crash accident, and test
emergency response procedures and business continuity plans, following an event
of this magnitude.
NAD said the
event allowed participating emergency response and investigative agencies to
test their operational procedures and responsiveness to ensure the highest
level of readiness in the event of a real emergency. The drill complies with international
standards regulated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO),
which requires that all international airports must conduct a full-scale
emergency exercise every two years.
Jan Knowles,
NAD Vice-President of Marketing & Communications said: “We will be looking
at how we handle the emergency in terms of putting out the fire that's going to
be simulated and the time frame as it relates to that.
"This
is a full crash scenario that's done every two years. This is of vital importance to us as an
airport and as a country to be able to handle these kinds of scenarios."
Ms. Knowles
said NAD had personnel from all of the National Emergency Management Agencies
as well as the Public Hospitals Authority at the drill site.
She added
that the response times were already set by international agencies and NAD's
evaluation team would be monitoring those, along with other factors, to measure
how well they are meeting international standards of taking care of injured
persons.
Participating
agencies included: the Royal Bahamas Police Force and Royal Bahamas Defence
Force, the Civil Aviation Department's Air Traffic Services, Aircraft Accident
and Investigation Services, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA),
Airport Authority Rescue and Fire Fighting, Airport Authority Security, the
Public Hospitals Authority, Doctors Hospital, and the Bahamas Red Cross
Society.
As the main
international gateway to The Bahamas, LPIA is the fourth busiest airport in the
Caribbean, with scheduled and charter flights to the United States, Canada,
Europe, and Latin America. LPIA served
3.3 million passengers in 2014 alone.
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