Sheremetyevo International Airport carried out a highly successful exercise in managing emergency relief operations on December 11 as part of the All-Russian Command and Staff Exercises on emergency operations. The exercises were held simultaneously at transportation facilities in several regions of the Russian Federation in accordance with the Executive Order of the President of the Russian Federation.
During the exercises at Sheremetyevo, the Fire Fighting and Emergency Rescue Support for Flights (PASOP Service) and other operational services of the airport worked out joint actions for rescue and recovery in the event of an emergency landing with the Ministry of Emergency Management, the Center for Emergency Medicine and representatives of industry-specific government agencies.
The exercise scenario consisted of an airplane landing at Sheremetyevo with a landing gear malfunction. After landing on runway-3, the aircraft’s left engine, its lower part of the fuselage, and spilled fuel caught fire at the end of the runway.
The Fire Fighting and Emergency Rescue Support teams were the first ones to arrive to the scene, and worked with forces of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Management to responded to the emergency.
The task of the rescue teams was to manage passenger evacuation, provide all the necessary medical and counseling assistance in the terminal, extinguish the fire and clean up fuel spills, and prepare the aircraft for its removal from the runway. In total, more than 150 people and 40 pieces of equipment were engaged in the exercise.
The results of the command and staff exercises were reported via video conference to the Minister of Emergencies of the Russian Federation, E.N. Zinichev.
Andrey Nikulin, First Deputy Director General for Production at JSC Sheremetyevo, emphasized:
“Security is the absolute priority for the Sheremetyevo Airport. Today’s challenges require coordinated actions of the airport ground services and the Ministry of Emergency Management. In this regard, we fully support practical parts of the regular All-Russian command and staff exercises at the Sheremetyevo International Airport. The joint exercises held today are one of the planned activities for us within the framework of the ongoing training and education of our firefighters, rescue workers, and all involved airfield services. In this work, we strive to use our gained experience, the most advanced domestic and world practices.”
This was the first time that emergency rescue exercises were held on Sheremetyevo’s new third runway. Four vehicles will be added to the fleet of Sheremetyevo airfield fire trucks in 2020, due to support the expanded airfield infrastructure and the airport’s increased in production capacity.
During the exercises, PASOP Service demonstrated the capabilities of the modern fire and rescue equipment that is part of its inventory. Today, the PASOP Service is equipped with all the necessary emergency equipment, including vehicles designed to arrive at remote points of the airfield in 3-4 minutes. More than 60 highly qualified PASOP Service firefighters and rescue workers are on duty every day.
Currently, the Sheremetyevo Airport has in its inventory 12 airfield fire trucks that meet the highest world standards, one gas-and-smoke protection service vehicle to for the inter-terminal crossing, and one vehicle for the ground search and rescue group.
