Emergency exercise at Schoenefeld Airport

Simulation of a collision involving an aircraft and a refuelling vehicle / Cooperation between all services involved was practiced / Emergency test at Schoenefeld is a highly realistic simulation of the actual situation

Last Saturday, between 1pm and 6pm Schoenefeld Airport was the scene of a large-scale emergency exercise. This test is performed regularly – at intervals of no more than two years – by Berlin Airports together with the county of Dahme-Spreewald. The objective of the exercise is to practice the cooperation of all services involved in such a situation, primarily the federal and state police, the county administration, the fire brigade, the Johanniter emergency services, the airlines and handling agents. The preparations for the exercise were kept absolutely secret to ensure that the exercise was as realistic as possible.

An incident has occurred on a flight from Munich to Hamburg: there is smoke in the cockpit and a smell of burning. The aircraft is forced to make an emergency landing at Schoenefeld Airport. During landing a runway incursion occurs, meaning that there is an aircraft, vehicle or person on the runway, and this causes a collision.

An air traffic controller of German Air Control reports from the tower that an aircraft with smoke in the cockpit is coming in for an emergency landing and he alerts the fire brigade. The fire brigade control centre alerts all the other services according to Berlin Airports’ emergency plan and triggers the alarm chain. The airport fire brigade takes up their positions on the runway. The other county services gather at the pre-arranged meeting point to await further instructions. During the emergency landing of the Airbus A319 a refuelling vehicle crosses the runway; a collision occurs, fatally injuring the driver and causing the refuelling vehicle to catch fire and burst into flames. The aircraft collides with the ground and breaks into three parts.

The fire brigade immediately starts rescuing the passengers and crew and fighting the fire in the aircraft. The injured passengers are evacuated from the danger zone and taken to nearby hospitals in the region; uninjured passengers are evacuated to Schoenefeld Airport’s conference centre where they are registered and all necessary care is provided.

The emergency exercise was supervised – as would also be the case in a real emergency – by the emergency control centre at Schoenefeld Airport. The centre is staffed by one representative from each of the services involved.