Fagalii Airport in Samoa was a hive of activity for several hours as Polynesian Airlines carried out an Emergency Response Drill.
“The whole purpose of this exercise is to gauge the readiness and preparedness of our own staff and those working at Fagalii Airport and key government agencies to respond to an emergency incident that places the lives of people at risk at Fagalii Airport,” said the airline’s Chief Executive Officer, Seiuli Tupuivao Alvin Tuala.
The drill was conducted from 9.45am to midday yesterday.
“The drill allows us as an Airport Operator to continuously review and improve on our existing procedures and processes to ensure the respondents and support services are properly coordinated to minimize any potential loss of lives or damage to properties when an emergency incident happens inside our airport premises,”Seiuli said.
The emergency response drill involved the simulation of an aircraft coming in to land at Fagalii Airport’s Runway 10 at 9.45am and bursting one of its tyres on landing resulting in the aircraft veering off the runway and hitting a perimeter fence causing one of the engines to catch fire on impact.
A government press release said the lead assessor for the Emergency Response Drill was Nanai Junior Saaga, Assistant CEO for the Ministry of Works, Transport and Infrastructure.
“My role is to assess the overall execution of Polynesian Airlines’ Airport Emergency Plan as documented in their Manual, Part 139 as they are the operator of Fagalii Airport”, Nanai explained.
Other assessors included the Police Commissioner, Su’a Fuiavailili Egon Keil, CEO for Red Cross, Namulauulu Tautala Mauala and Assistant CEO for FESA, Tanuvasa Petone Mauga, who all assisted in assessing the coordination of the responses from the Fire and Emergency Services, National Health Services, Police and Red Cross.
“We are extremely grateful to all the government agencies from the Police Officers, FESA Officers, Medical Doctors and Nurses from the National Health Services and Ministry of Health, staff from MWTI and Red Cross, who participated in the exercise and for making themselves available from their busy schedules to assess and share their expertise and knowledge on how we can improve our procedures and processes in order to respond effectively to emergency incidents.”
“We are also grateful for the assistance and support provided by the Village of Fagalii, especially their Mayor, Samau Lokeni Ieru, the untitled men of Fagalii and the taxi drivers from Fagalii Airport Taxi Stand, employees of government agencies and other businesses working at Fagalii Airport and most importantly to our valued customers for their understanding and patience with the slight delays to their flights while Fagalii Airport was closed for aircraft operations during the exercise,” Seiuli said.
Photo by MPMC