Hamad International Airport (HIA) successfully completed its fourth ‘Full-Scale Emergency Exercise’ on Thursday.
The exercise, Oryx Golf 2019, was conducted at HIA with some 26 government agencies, partners and stakeholders, including Qatar Airways Group, Airline Operators Committee-Doha, Airport Customs, the Ministry of Public Health, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) Facilities, the Ministry of Interior (MoI), Ministry of Defence, Civil Defence, National Command Centre, Ministry of Transport and Communications and Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA).
The emergency exercise, Oryx Golf 2019, was arranged and orchestrated by HIA in compliance with the requirements established by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
HIA is responsible for ensuring that the Airport Management Systems and Emergency Preparedness meet the exact requirements of the QCAA Aerodrome Licensing Standards.
This year’s emergency exercise scenario was conducted differently to previous years. While previous years focused on aviation-specific incidents, this year’s exercise aimed at simulating a public health emergency incident at the airport to test its capabilities when dealing with public health emergency incident of international concern which included medical facilities throughout Qatar.
The exercise scenario involved a Qatar Airways inbound flight from a country that has been identified by the World Health Organisation with an Ebola Virus Disease outbreak.
The said flight declared an emergency an hour before landing at HIA reporting one sick passenger onboard showing signs and symptoms of the Ebola Virus Disease.
The exercise involved Air Traffic Control, Aircraft Crew, Public Health Emergency responders, MoI Airport Security, HMC Ambulance Service, MoI Civil Defence and the Emergency Operations Centre, among others, to test HIA’s crisis readiness and effectiveness of communications, responses, procedures and designated facilities for Public Health Emergency Incidents.
The exercise aimed to also measure how well the different stakeholders coordinated together to ensure the best crisis management procedures are implemented.
On the successful completion of the emergency exercise, Ian Metsovitis, vice-president (Operations) at HIA, stated: “The accomplishment of the Oryx Golf 2019 exercise is a testament to our continued endeavour for operational excellence, ensuring the airport’s safety preparedness and continued coordination between our stakeholders remain at its best. With passengers at the heart of the HIA’s strategy, safety and security are central pillars for our airport operations."
The emergency exercise, Oryx Golf 2019, was arranged and orchestrated by HIA in compliance with the requirements established by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
HIA is responsible for ensuring that the Airport Management Systems and Emergency Preparedness meet the exact requirements of the QCAA Aerodrome Licensing Standards.
This year’s emergency exercise scenario was conducted differently to previous years. While previous years focused on aviation-specific incidents, this year’s exercise aimed at simulating a public health emergency incident at the airport to test its capabilities when dealing with public health emergency incident of international concern which included medical facilities throughout Qatar.
The exercise scenario involved a Qatar Airways inbound flight from a country that has been identified by the World Health Organisation with an Ebola Virus Disease outbreak.
The said flight declared an emergency an hour before landing at HIA reporting one sick passenger onboard showing signs and symptoms of the Ebola Virus Disease.
The exercise involved Air Traffic Control, Aircraft Crew, Public Health Emergency responders, MoI Airport Security, HMC Ambulance Service, MoI Civil Defence and the Emergency Operations Centre, among others, to test HIA’s crisis readiness and effectiveness of communications, responses, procedures and designated facilities for Public Health Emergency Incidents.
The exercise aimed to also measure how well the different stakeholders coordinated together to ensure the best crisis management procedures are implemented.
On the successful completion of the emergency exercise, Ian Metsovitis, vice-president (Operations) at HIA, stated: “The accomplishment of the Oryx Golf 2019 exercise is a testament to our continued endeavour for operational excellence, ensuring the airport’s safety preparedness and continued coordination between our stakeholders remain at its best. With passengers at the heart of the HIA’s strategy, safety and security are central pillars for our airport operations."