LOCAL emergency services were kept busy at Tamworth Airport yesterday afternoon, but there was no cause for alarm – it was all part of a training exercise.
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Exercise Overshoot is a practical test of the emergency response to a major incident at the airport and took place over two hours.
Airport manager Julie Stewart said it was a Civil Aviation and Safety Authority requirement for every airport to hold an emergency exercise every year. The local airport’s practical “field” exercises are held every two years, in between theory-based work.
Yesterday’s drill involved an 18-seater bus, simulating a Dash 8-400 aircraft, experiencing landing difficulties and overshooting the runway. Emergency services, including police, firefighters and ambulance officers, attended the exercise.
“Also as part of that is we’ve got a landing gear failure, which causes some fuel to leak onto the grassed areas around the edge of the taxiway,” Ms Stewart.
“It requires what we call a full emergency response.
“It allows an opportunity for a full review of procedures we have in place to ensure all agencies are ready to respond in the event of an emergency. It is an effective way of highlighting any areas which need improvement.”
At the end of the exercise, all agencies will take part in a debrief.