Farewell to Nimrod crew

Volume 48, No. 21, November 16, 2006

CARIBOU CASUALTY: A local Townsville firefighter carries FLTLT Sonja Main from 322CSS to safety during the annual aerodrome emergency exercise at RAAF Base Townsville.  Photo by CPL Shane Gidall

By Andrew Stackpool

WHAT happens when a military aircraft declares an emergency? How well do the nearest base and the relevant civilian authorities respond?

They were the questions tested recently when RAAF Base Townsville and local civilian emergency authorities conducted the annual full-field Aerodrome Emergency Exercise. The exercise involved an in-flight emergency aboard an inbound 38SQN Caribou.

Under the scenario, the aircraft was returning from overseas with 17 passengers. As the aircraft approached Townsville, crew members noticed that one of the passenger’s bags was leaking a liquid, after which passengers started collapsing and most became unconscious. The flight engineer reported a strong smell of petrol, so an emergency was declared by the captain.

The 44WG Detachment at Townsville activated the Aerodrome Emergency Plan (AEP) and the base and local emergency response services swung into action.

Air Traffic Control cleared the Caribou to land and it landed without incident.

Meanwhile, the base was placed on high alert and civilian emergency response services advised.

Base Aviation Safety Officer SQNLDR Trevor Beams said the exercise had three main aims.

“They were to confirm the validity of the recently rewritten AEP and the follow-on Air Force AEP Supplement, demonstrate the coordination and cooperation between a range of military and civil emergency response units, and to trial the new Emergency Coordination Centre,” he said.

ADF exercise participants were from 395ESCW, 323CSS, 44WG, 1ATS, 38SQN and 1CLS. Civil participants included Air Services Australia, the Queensland Police, Queensland Fire and Rescue, Townsville General Hospital, Townsville and Thuringowa City Councils and the local branch of the State Emergency Service, plus airline representatives.
“For this exercise, we were lucky enough to have the Australian Protective Services’ Brisbane-based emergency response group participate,” SQNLDR Beams said.

“Test samples of imitation explosives were introduced into some of the luggage to test the sniffer dogs, and the dogs found them all; everyone was very impressed with the sniffer dog teams.”

He said that a number of lessons learnt have generated changes to procedures. These changes will be endorsed at the next AEP Committee meeting.

“The exercise was a good example of how cooperation between a range of military and civil agencies can achieve results,” he said.

“Following the exercise, a hot wash-up was conducted, giving all participants a chance to have a look at the facilities available on the base.”

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