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Mock air emergency causes panic

Staff Reporter

Karipur airport shows preparedness to handle emergencies

MALAPPURAM: A mock air crash and declaration of full emergency at Calicut Airport, Karipur, as part of a search-and-rescue (SAR) exercise by the Indian Coast Guard triggered confusion and panic among the people on Monday morning. There was a flurry of phone calls at the airport and media offices as news flashed that a passenger plane had crashed into the sea off the Kozhikode coast.

The confusion lasted for an hour. Airport and Coast Guard authorities confirmed that the emergency declaration was part of an SAR and anti-piracy exercise coordinated by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Committee (MRCC) of the Coast Guard.

The airport sounded the full emergency at 9.52 a.m. following a mock alert picked up by the Air Traffic Control (ATC) that a Thiruvananthapuram-bound passenger plane from Kuwait had diverted to Karipur following a fire alarm from the engine. The imaginary Airbus-300 aircraft had 260 passengers on board and fuel to fly two-and-a half hours.

Within minutes, various agencies such as fire control, medical units and security personnel were ready at the airport. Apart from the five fire tenders at the airport, fire tenders from Kozhikode and Malappuram also rushed to Karipur.

Anxious moments

Very few people at the airport knew that the emergency was part of a mock drill. Anxious moments passed as the ATC reported having lost contact with the plane after its left engine caught fire. Soon the plane was presumed to have crashed into the sea about 68 nautical miles north-west off the Kozhikode coast.

The airport authorities withdrew the emergency at 11.03 a.m., announcing that it was part of a mock drill. Airport Director R. Veeraswamy said everyone responded to the emergency with agility. He said the drill proved the airport's preparedness and efficiency in handling any emergency. The exercise will be reviewed in Kochi on Tuesday, he said.

Apart from the Coast Guard, the Indian Air Force (IAF), Airport Authority of India (AAI), the Director General of Shipping, and the Indian Navy were involved in the mock drill. Naval sources, however, said that none of their vessels was involved in the exercise.

Two vessels and two aircraft of the Coast Guard took part in the drill. They were CGS Vigraha, a Vikram-class offshore patrol vessel; CGS Sangram, a Samar-class advanced offshore patrol vessel; one Chetak helicopter and one Dornier fixed-wing aircraft.

Coast Guard authorities said the exercise off the Kozhikode coast would continue till Wednesday. The airport authorities, however, did not say whether there would be anymore mock air warnings.

Last week, an Indian Airlines plane had made an emergency landing at Karipur after one of its engines failed during flight from Mumbai.

A civilian had then warned the ATC after hearing a loud noise from the engine as the plane approached for landing.

The Airbus-320 had landed safely with one engine shut down. The airport authorities responded quickly by declaring emergency and bringing all fire tenders near the runway and keeping ambulance and hospitals on alert.

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