Sydney Airport’s biennial emergency exercise simulated an aircraft engine fire and explosion, testing multi-agency coordination between police, fire, ambulance and emergency services.
Sydney Airport (SYD) conducted its biennial large-scale emergency exercise on Wednesday, involving more than 200 personnel from eight agencies to test the airport’s emergency response arrangements and inter-agency coordination.
Six months in the making, the exercise forms part of Sydney Airport’s regular emergency management programme. The airport last conducted an airport-wide emergency exercise in October 2024.
This year’s exercise simulated an inbound domestic Boeing 737 flight declaring a MAYDAY following a suspected engine fire. After making an emergency landing, the aircraft vacated the runway and stopped on a taxiway, where a simulated explosion triggered a full emergency response and passenger evacuation. Emergency services tested passenger triage processes, casualty management arrangements and welfare support procedures for uninjured passengers.
The exercise brought together Sydney Airport, NSW Police Force, Australian Federal Police, Aviation Rescue Fire Fighting Services, Fire and Rescue NSW, NSW Ambulance, NSW State Emergency Service (SES) and Airservices Australia. Participating agencies tested a range of response capabilities, including aircraft firefighting, passenger evacuation, rescue and retrieval, casualty management, emergency communications and multi-agency incident management.
Sydney Airport CEO Scott Charlton said: “Safety is our highest priority, and exercises like this play an important role in ensuring we are prepared, coordinated and ready to respond in the event of an emergency… today’s exercise demonstrates the value of planning, collaboration and continuous improvement. It provided an opportunity to validate our emergency arrangements, learn from one another and continually refine how we work together in a coordinated response.”
Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Kirsty Schofield said the exercise gave AFP members a valuable real-world scenario to further their preparedness to respond to critical incidents, alongside aviation and emergency services partners. “While we hope to never be confronted with the situations presented with this exercise, I am confident that the AFP and our partners will be ready to respond should the need arise,” she added.
NSW Police Central Metropolitan Region Commander, Acting Assistant Commissioner Greg Moore, said the force was proud to participate in the multi-agency exercise, which provided a valuable opportunity to test command, control and coordination arrangements in a realistic environment.
NSW SES Deputy Zone Commander Stuart Fisher said 28 SES volunteers from across Sydney took part in the complex, hands-on simulation, giving members a valuable opportunity to test support arrangements to NSW Ambulance during a mass casualty event, including casualty handling.
Sydney Airport conducts an airport-wide emergency exercise every two years in partnership with emergency agencies and organisations as part of its regular emergency management programme.
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