The Hindu

MANGALORE, Dec 11: An aircraft accident rescue exercise was simulated at Bajpe airport of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) at 7.15 a.m. on Monday.

An aircraft with 15 persons on board and having endurance (having fuel to fly) for two hours was thought to have crashed while landing in the approach path of the runway.

According to procedure, the personnel of the air traffic control tower switched on the crash siren and the fire bell to alert the fire personnel and other rescue agencies. All the authorities concerned were informed about the accident.

Naveenchandra, medical officer at the Primary Health Centre, Bajpe, rushed to the site to provide medical assistance. The doctor sought additional help from J. Prabhudeva, district surgeon at the Government Wenlock Hospital, who is the nodal officer to handle disasters in Dakshina Kannada.

Dr. Prabhudeva sent specialists to the triage area (triage is a system of sorting patients according to need when resources are insufficient to treat all of them). The “injured” were sent to designated hospitals in sufficient number of ambulances.

State police personnel rushed to the airport to help the personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to cordon the accident site and to regulate traffic. The fire brigade from the city reached the airport to join the fire force of the airport.

Ambareesh, the medical controller designated by Dr. Prabhudeva, ensured that the “critically injured” were taken to the hospital in the shortest time from the triage area.

M.R. Vasudeva, Director of the airport, said in a press release that a team comprising officers from AAI, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) and the Indian Coast Guard was formed to evaluate the conduct of the exercise.