Entebbe airport conducts emergency crash drill

A scene at Entebbe airport where the mock accident was staged. Photo by Paul Adude

Entebbe.

In order to test the preparedness of the Airport’s emergency response in case of an aircraft accident, Entebbe International Airport’s management has organized “a full scale exercise.”
The accident drills held Friday morning involved a mock-up of an accident in which a “Red Squirrel Airlines” (not real name) plane with 180 people on board crashed and caught fire while landing.

According to a statement from the airport management, the exercise assumed that some people lost their lives and a number of survivors were critically injured sparking off an emergency situation in which fire fighters and all the other rescue agencies swung into action to save lives.

In response to the staged exercise, the Civil Aviation Authority’s firefighting and rescue services personnel put down the resultant fire while medical personnel from different hospitals were immediately summoned.

Doctors and nurses accessed the site and took care of the “victims”, rushing the critically injured ones to Entebbe Grade B Hospital, International Hospital Kampala (IHK), Nsambya and Rubaga Hospitals.

Several stakeholders participated in the mock-exercise including The Red Cross, St John Ambulance, Aviation Police and Airlines, the Police Airwing, Uganda Peoples Defence Airforce among others.

Requirement
International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) regulations require each international airport in the world to conduct such emergency preparedness exercises on a regular basis so as to rehearse and perfect rescue efforts in the unfortunate occurrence of an accident.