The Eugene F. Correia International Airport at Ogle, East Coast of Demerara will be briefly closed on Friday (March 15, 2019) for a ‘Full Scale Emergency Exercise’.
The Airport will be closed between 10:00 and 11:00 hrs for this purpose, a press statement noted.
The Full Scale Emergency Exercise is conducted to test the readiness and capacity of the Airport to respond to accidents or any incidents which might occur at the facility.
These Exercises are mandatory and are conducted every two years in accordance with the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).
The Exercise will be facilitated by Captain Jack Mc Govern, Fireman/Captain from Fredericksburg, Virginia, USA. Captain Mc Govern has been actively involved on each occasion in training for these exercises since 2006.
Friday’s Emergency Exercise will simulate an event in which an ATR72 Aircraft, a type used by LIAT and Caribbean Airlines, overruns the runway on landing and catches on fire at the end of the runway.
The Emergency Exercise is designed to test the response from the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), Airport Security and first responders such as the Guyana Fire Service, Guyana Defence Force, Guyana Police Force, ambulance and medical services, as well as major hospitals in the city, including Georgetown Public Hospital, Mercy Hospital and Woodlands Hospital.
