Stansted successfully completes Pterippus exercise
On Thursday 16th May more than 300 airport staff, fire crews, Police and ambulance crews from across the East of England, the British Red Cross and local authorities were involved in Exercise Pterippus.
Adrian Battaini, exercise controller and the airport’s business continuity manager, said: “Exercise Pterippus gave us an excellent opportunity to continue our work with the emergency services, airport and airline companies, the British Red Cross and local authorities to test how we collectively respond to a rare but challenging incident. The exercise presented a scenario you hope you would never actually have to experience in reality, but we can be confident we have the plans and procedures in place to deal with any emergency situation.”
The exercise, which is required every two years by the Civil Aviation Authority, simulated an incident between a helicopter and a passenger aircraft. To minimise disruption to the airport’s normal operations, the exercise was carried out away from the main passenger terminal on a specialist training rig. Volunteers from the Casualties Union, British Red Cross, local authorities and staff played the role of casualties.
