Published on October 15, 2024, 6:57 p.m
/ ©Montage: 5 minutes & BMI/ Gregor Wenda
Symbolfoto
Symbolfoto
A major emergency exercise took place at Graz Airport today.
A major emergency exercise took place at Graz Airport today.
Today, Tuesday, an emergency exercise took place at Graz Airport in which around 500 people were involved. The exercise “Alpha 9” dealt with a security police situation (terror) on an aircraft.
von Elisa Auer
2 minutes reading time(397 words)
While in previous years the majority of disaster scenarios (e.g. plane crash) were played out with large fire and rescue operations, this year the focus was on police work (LPD and EKO Cobra) and communication between authorities, emergency organizations, airlines and airports .
Emergency drills take place every two years
Every two years, operational exercises are carried out at international airports to review emergency planning. Those responsible at Graz Airport have always tried to run through as many different scenarios as possible in order to gain a variety of new insights. HR Gerald Ortner, State Police Director says: “Today’s exercise at Graz Airport made it clear how essential close cooperation between all emergency services is in an emergency. Our top priority is to protect the population and to do this we must be prepared for all eventualities. Such exercises are a central part of our security strategy in order to be able to react quickly and in a coordinated manner in an emergency.”
500 people took part in the emergency drill
Colonel Kurt Kornberger, site commander, Cobra South Operations Command: “Forms of the most serious crime are highly complex operational situations where the police and their partners are required to meet extraordinary demands. Coordination and collaboration are essential in order to achieve more than the sum of the individual capabilities and thereby ensure an even higher level of security.” An operational exercise of this format is no small feat for the airport. Around 500 participants had to be coordinated while flight operations were ongoing.
Exercise should be as realistic as possible
Wolfgang Grimus, Managing Director of Graz Airport draws a positive conclusion: “Today’s emergency exercise was very successful. In the coming weeks we will work through the exercise together with our partners in order to gain new insights for the future. My big thanks go to our team and our partners who made this exercise on this scale possible!” In order for the exercise to be particularly realistic, the organizers tried to find an airline as a partner that would be willing to provide an aircraft for you to be available as a practice object all day long. Alexander Gsteu, Eurowings Base Captain Graz and Vienna: “As the largest airline at the location, we work successfully with Graz Airport. Since safety is the top priority in air traffic, we were happy to take part in the exercise as part of our close partnership.”
The practice scenario
A flight with the airline Neuroline from Graz to Tomorrow Town is planned for midday on October 15, 2024. After the passengers boarded, the unimaginable happened: several perpetrators hijacked the plane. As soon as the kidnapping is known, the airport will alert the relevant security authorities and emergency organizations as well as all internal departments. As the responsible security authority, the Styrian State Police Directorate takes over the operational staff and provides the official operations manager. Together with the Southern Negotiating Group and the EKO Cobra, negotiations are taking place with the perpetrators and further measures are being taken. In the course of the kidnapping, there are injuries and some kidnapping victims are released. Finally, a possible storming of the plane becomes more and more likely…
The exercise participants
A total of around 500 people from the following authorities / emergency organizations / companies took part in the exercise:
- Eurowings airline
- Office of the Styrian State Government, Disaster Control and National Defense Department, State Warning Center and Communications Technology Department for Styria
- KIT-Land Styria, crisis intervention and psychosocial acute care
- District administration Graz surroundings
- Styria State Police Directorate
- Southern LKA negotiating group
- Task Force Cobra
- Graz-Environment District Police Command
- Graz Airport Border Police Inspection
- Austrian Red Cross
- Graz-Environment Fire Brigade Association
- Graz Airport Operations GmbH, Graz Airport Ground Services GmbH, Graz Airport Security Services GmbH
