LJLA Emergency Exercise to take place in River Mersey

An emergency exercise is being staged at Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LJLA) on Sunday 7th November 2010.

It is a requirement by the Civil Aviation Authority for airports such as Liverpool to hold a full emergency exercise every two years. This time however, in conjunction with Liverpool City Council, Halton Borough Council, Wirral Council and the various emergency services in the area, the Airport is taking the opportunity to test the procedures in place should an aircraft be forced to make an emergency landing on the River Mersey.

The exercise is due to commence at 10:30am and last for approximately two hours and will utilise the UK’s first floating aircraft simulator which has been specifically built for the Airport to test rescue procedures for aircraft forced to land on water.

This multi-agency exercise will also involve the RAF who will be using one of their Search and Rescue helicopters based at RAF Valley at Anglesey to assist with the simulated extrication and rescue of passengers on board an aircraft located on the River Mersey. Rescue crews from Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service, Merseyside Police, HM Coastguard, RNLI and the new NW Regional Ambulance Hazardous Area Response Teams (HART) will also all be working with the Airport’s own Fire and Rescue Service in dealing with this simulated incident.

Around 30-40 volunteers will be taking part on Sunday as will a significant number of emergency services personnel. The Airport will however be operating ‘business as usual’ throughout the exercise and no passengers or airlines will be affected by the training taking place.