"'Terrorist disaster' at South Africa's Durban International Airport"

Thursday, June 24, 2004

'Terrorist disaster' at Durban International Airport 
South African Broadcasting Corporation


Passengers at Durban International Airport were faced with a 'terrorist
disaster' today, and nobody alerted them not to be alarmed by the post
9/11 attack. The emergency landing drill was nothing more than a mock
disaster that was stage managed by the Airports Authority to demonstrate
their readiness for any emergency and to allay passenger fears about
their safety in the skies. 

The fake crash of a "Bambini Airline" today set off an ever worsening
cascade of simulated events for plant operators and emergency
responders. This security drill simulation was created in an attempt to
measure the airports' emergency state-of-readiness.

Krishni Reddy, the assistant general manager at the airport said: "We do
this every two years ... It's now a requirement by the Civil Aviation
Authority (CAA) ... this is our reassurance to the flying public."

More than 1 000 people from various emergency services took part in the
exercise. Every emergency contingency was put in place from fire
fighters on the scene manning the fumes, police and ambulance control
and even a standby chopper that was used as a flying ambulance to ferry
injured passengers to hospital. However, the real test of the day was
the rapid response timing of all those involved.

Rapulane Monageng, the fire chief said: "We received response from the
Nedcare and even the army ... full control has been reached and
everything is in good hands at the moment."

The success of the exercise has assured authorities that in the event of
a real life situation they would be able to handle the situation
effectively.


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