A joint exercise of the airport’s rescue, security and operational units was successfully held at Václav Havel Prague Airport on Wednesday. They intervened in an aircraft accident during landing and examined the following activities in accordance with the procedures of the Airport Contingency Plan. The exercise was also attended by the Police of the Czech Republic and the Association of Samaritans of the Czech Republic. The airline Smartwings, which lent one of its aircraft for training purposes, also took part.

The subject of this year’s exercise was an intervention in a crashed aircraft, including rescue and firefighting work certified by the Prague Airport, including common procedures for identified dangerous goods on board.

“We sent four emergency specials to the scene of the accident, a total of eight airport fire trucks and 18 firefighters took part in the exercise. We confirmed the fast range, we verified the interventions to extinguish the burning engine in aircraft, the reaction of the crew during the evacuation, the activities of the fire brigade in the evacuation of passengers and the cooperation of units at Prague Airport, “says Zdeněk Čelikovský.

In the next part of the exercise, the active group for removing stationary aircraft from operating areas was verified. The exercise took place during full operation of the airport and did not affect the smooth check-in of passengers or the normal flight schedule at Prague Airport.

“We have confirmed our ability to react very quickly and intervene in air accidents and to cooperate perfectly with other components in the event of an emergency,” confirms Zdeněk Truhlář, Strategy and Safety Management Manager.

Statistical use for air accidents very rarely. However, large international airports must be prepared for such an event. That is why we organize an emergency exercise of an air accident at least once every two years. The last time was in April 2019. However, there are a number of smaller emergency drills and they take place at the airport throughout the year.

“For the airline, this type of regular exercise is an essential part of crisis and security plans. Participation in training events contributes to the company’s maximum preparedness for various crisis situations and confirms the high level of operational safety and crisis management of the airline, “says Roman Vik, Member of the Board of Directors and CEO of Smartwings.

Smartwings has repeatedly successfully passed audits in accordance with IOSA (IATA Operational Safety Audit) standards. A valid IOSA registration is considered in commercial air transport as proof of the airline’s reliability and high level of safety.

List of participating components:

• Prague Airport, as
• Smartwings as
• Czech Airlines, as
• Czech Airlines Handling, as
• Association of Samaritans of the Czech Republic
• Police of the Czech Republic (Alien Police Inspectorate)
• Air traffic control, sp

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