Sydney Airport Tests Emergency Response with Biennial Exercise

Every two years, Sydney Airport conducts a large-scale emergency exercise to test its response arrangements and inter-agency coordination. This year's biennial exercise involved over 250 personnel from eight agencies, including Sydney Airport, NSW Police Force, Australian Federal Police (AFP), Aviation Rescue and Fire Fighting Services (ARFFS), Fire and Rescue NSW, NSW Ambulance, the NSW State Emergency Service (SES) and Airservices Australia.

The exercise simulated an inbound domestic Boeing 737 declaring a MAYDAY after a suspected engine fire. The aircraft made an emergency landing, vacated the runway, and stopped on a taxiway, where a simulated explosion triggered a full emergency response and passenger evacuation.

The scenario allowed emergency services to test passenger triage, casualty management arrangements, and welfare support procedures for uninjured passengers. Injured passengers were transported to hospital under the scenario.

Sydney Airport chief executive Scott Charlton emphasized the importance of safety, stating that exercises like this 'play an important role in ensuring we are prepared, coordinated and ready to respond in the event of an emergency.'