AENA, together with health, emergency, security and rescue services throughout the island, held an air accident simulation on Tuesday, June 19. After several months of planning, holding various meetings, the different security measures to be taken into account were established in the simulation, in which not only the airport’s own facilities were mobilised, but also a large number of external resources.
This exercise consisted of a simulated aeroplane accident near the head of the runway on a piece of land located around El Burrero. This necessitated Local Police, Civil Protection units, ambulances, fire trucks, among many other troops to a attend the scene.
Emergency services including the 112 coordination centre, GES, SUC and the General Directorate of Safety and Emergencies, recreated a scenario surrounding an accident of an AT75 type aircraft, with 11 passengers and 4 crew on board near the head of the runway.
All the involved agencies practised their public reporting procedures using media such as Twitter to ensure timely information was being released and instructions broadcast.
After the execution of the simulation, a meeting was held at the airport to assess their speed and response to a possible accident. The last exercise of this type was carried out at these facilities two years ago during an exercise that was part of the Gran Canaria Airport Self-protection Plan in which a crash was simulated to have occurred during an approach manoeuvre between a commercial airliner and a small plane, which fell into a ravine nearby.
