Christine Tang
The Hong Kong International Airport is ready for emergency accidents and crises, after it completed a safety drill for a chemical leakage with various government departments, Airport Authority executive director Steven Yiu Siu-chung said.
After the 4 1/2-hour drill, Yiu said that safety is always the top priority at the airport.
”With passenger traffic recovering steadily, the exercise provides a valuable opportunity for the airport community to test its readiness in response to contingencies and the ability to manage crises,” he said.
This marks the first time the Fire Services Department’s hazardous materials team activated the new Decontamination and Rescue Facility opened last year for a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear agent incident scenario.
More than 1,000 people from over 20 departments and organizations participated in the drill, which simulated a crash of a passenger flight that led to fire, chemical leakage and injuries to passengers and crew members, said Chapman Fong Shui-man, the authority’s deputy director of operations.
The drill took place on the new North Runway from 2.15am to 6.45am yesterday.
With Hong Kong Airlines as a participating party, the drill simulated an engine of an arrival flight of the carrier that struck the runway and caught fire during landing, causing a leak of a chemical substance into the main cabin that led to eye and skin irritations for passengers and crew members. The Air Traffic Control Tower immediately activated the crash alarm, while the authority activated the Airport Emergency Centre to facilitate coordination and communications among departments.
Emergency services – including the FSD and police – arrived at the scene to effect firefighting and rescue and render medical care and casualty conveyance.
The FSD’s hazardous materials team was deployed to carry out decontamination procedures for the injured at the Decontamination and Rescue Facility at the apron.
The simulation also included handling casualties. The injured were sent to four public hospitals while the uninjured stayed at the passenger reception center after going through immigration and customs.
The drill also included a simulated press conference held jointly by the authority, Hong Kong Airlines, the FSD, police and the Air Accident Investigation Authority to provide updates on the incident and rescue operations.
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