MANADO–Sam Ratulangi Manado International Airport held an Emergency Drill (PKD) on Wednesday (29/08) as part of the effort to strengthen the preparedness of airport personnel and facilities in serving airport users, especially local and foreign tourists.
The 97th PKD drill series comprised of FireDrills, Aircfraft Accident Drills, and simulations of security threats at the airport whichalso included handling riots or demonstrations in the airport area (Security Drills).
The simulation was designed to emulate the real situation and was directly led by Sam Ratulangi International Airport General Manager as chairman of the Airport Emergency Committee (AEC).
In this year's scenario, the Manado Branch of Angkasa Pura Airports simulatedthe handling of a plane crash accident involving Manguni Air (a fictitious airline) that experienced a tire break during take off from Runway 36,causing the plane to run off and crash at the end of Runway 18.
The simulation was designed in such a way as if it was real with a number of casualties, injuries and fire. The skilled officers were able to handle the situation in accordance with the guidelines under the Airport Emergency Plan (AEP) of Sam Ratulangi International Airport.
The President Director of Angkasa Pura Airports Faik Fahmi said, "Angkasa Pura Airports regularly conduct emergency (PKD) drills to test the promptness and effectiveness in crisis handling that should be in compliance with the Airport Emergency Plan and Airport Security Program (Airport Security Program Document). Specifically, we focus on the coordination, communication, and command among the work units and the airport stakeholders. The main objective of this drill is to test our preparedness in responding to emergencies that can occur any time and test the appropriate actions taken since the safety and the security of the airport users and all stakeholders is compulsory".
This drill involved at least 700 joint personnel consisting of officers from Angkasa Pura Airports, TNI AU Sam Ratulangi Air Force, the Navy Force of Sam Ratulangi, the Manado LPPNPI Public Corporation, the Manado Immigration Office, the Manado Customs and Excise Service Office, the Manado Port Health Office, the Manado Quarantine Center, Search and Rescue (BASARNAS) Manado, the Police of Manado Resort, State Intelligence Bandan North Sulawesi, the Infantry Battalion 712/Wiratama TNI-AD, Wolter Monginsidi Hospital, Maria Walanda Maramis Hospital, Talawaan Health Center, and other requesting institutions.
"We ensure that the operations of Sam Ratulangi Airport of Manado shall not be hampered during this 97th PKD drill. We have also coordinated with all airlines and announced to the passengers that they should not panic during the drill." Faik Fahmi continued.
This drill not only tests the handling of emergencies, but it also teststhe post-disaster mitigation response such as serving the families of victims by simulating the procedure for greeters & meeters and managing the media by simulating the media handling.
Once in every two years, all airports managed by Angkasa Pura Airports are required to conduct these PKD drills. The 97th PKD drill at Sam Ratulangi Manado International Airport is the 3rd PKD drillheld this year after being held at Surabaya Juanda International Airport in March, Balikpapan International Airport in April and more drills will be scheduled at Ahmad Yani Airport Semarang, Adi Soemarmo Solo Airport, El Tari Kupang Airport, and I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport Bali to close the PKD drill series held throughout 2018. [NZ]
