Airport Hosts Full-Scale Emergency Exercise
September 15, 2018
More than 100 participants from almost a dozen airport business stakeholders descended upon North Peace Regional Airport on September 15, to test coordinated crisis response procedures at the airport’s full-scale emergency exercise. Regular airport operations were not impacted by the exercise.
Led by YXJ’s operations team, the three-hour scenario involved a simulated aircraft crash and fire response on YXJ’s airfield. Participating agencies included the RCMP (police), City of Fort St. John Fire and Rescue Services, Fort St. John Search & Rescue and airline partners Air Canada, Central Mountain Air and WestJet. Rounding out the group were a number of volunteers acting as injured
passengers.
Transport Canada regulations mandate that airports the size of North Peace Regional test their emergency management plans in a full-scale exercise every four years, with regular table-top exercises and plan review conducted annually.
“Live emergency exercises are an integral part of North Peace Regional’s Plan, Prepare and
Practice approach to emergency management” says Gordon Duke, Managing Director,
North Peace Regional Airport. “This multi-agency effort offers the opportunity to test the airport’s coordinated response to an issue, the results of which are reviewed and incorporated back
into our emergency management plan for continuous improvement.”
The exercise wrapped up with a debrief involving all participants, and lessons learned will now be incorporated back into the airport’s emergency plans for continual improvement.