The Manila International Airport Authority will place its rescue team under retraining to further improve readiness during emergency
situations, especially when a plane crashes and bursts into flames.
The Crash Rescue Exercise (CREX) will be held at the airside premises of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Friday (Aug. 4).
“This year’s exercise is another first in the history of the MIAA because we shall also simulate the management and handling of
relatives of victims of the aircraft accident, something that was never done before,” said MIAA Officer-in-Charge Bryan Co.
Co assured there will be no flight disruptions and normal operations will continue smoothly during the conduct of the exercise.
Airport authorities of member states to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) are required to conduct bi-annually, a
full-scale airport emergency exercise and a table-top exercise during the intervening year.
The exercise will simulate an aircraft crash incident with the MIAA emergency services department and nearby hospitals and fire stations
as secondary responders.
The training will be made to ensure that airport authorities are attuned to the latest recommendations under the ICAO Standards and
Recommended Practices (ICAO-SARPS) manuals.
The result of the crash rescue exercise will determine the effectiveness of prevailing guidelines and procedures contained in the
8th edition of the MIAA Airport Emergency Plan (MIAA-AEP).
Both the ICAO-SARPS and the MIAA-AEP define lines of authority and organizational relationships between first and secondary responders
and support groups and show how all actions should be coordinated during an airport emergency.
The documents also state responsibilities to organizations and people for carrying out specific actions in responding to an airport
emergency situation. Primary responders in an in-airport emergency in NAIA are the MIAA Rescue, Firefighting, and Medical units.
While rated as a Category IX airport, MIAA’s current rescue and firefighting capability is Category X compliant making it ready to
respond to an airport emergency involving an Airbus A380.
With the support of highly skilled fire and rescue personnel, a medical team that is well trained and experienced in aviation
medicine, a fleet of modern firefighting and medical vehicles, pneumatic aircraft lifting systems, and various other rescue equipment, the MIAA Emergency Services department is at par with its counterparts in the region.