Bay crash drill
Fire and rescue personnel comb the scene following a staged plane crash at the Richards Bay Airport on Tuesday
Ronelle Ramsamy
THERE was public pandemonium and panic on Tuesday afternoon as the City of uMhlathuze police, traffic, emergency and disaster management services rushed to the Richards Bay Airport to participate in a staged plane crash.
The drill formed part of a bi-annual requirement by the Civil Aviation Authority to assess the local airport's readiness to deal with any disaster eventuality in order to issue new licences.
With sirens blaring and emergency vehicles flying past after an 'explosion ' from a crashed plane, residents were left bewildered, giving their own version of the reported disaster.
The fictitious disaster saw a Jet Airline plane with 47 on board including crew crash landing at the south end of the Richards Bay airstrip at 12.38pm.
With students from uMfolozi College and Boston Business College volunteering in the drama, one passenger was killed, nine were in a critical condition including a pregnant woman, six sustained serious injuries and 30 were slightly injured.
Units responding to the crisis included the Richards Bay SAPS, Dog Unit, Airport Management, Disaster Management, Traffic and Fire, Emergency, Medical and Rescue services.
The Zululand Observer was the first media allowed through to the accident scene, which was cordoned by police, as emergency and rescue personnel transported the injured to Netcare The Bay Hospital and Ngwelezana Hospital.
The exercise checked that all emergency systems were in place and a complete report will now be compiled and submitted to the CAA for evaluation.
No comments:
Post a Comment