Royal New Zealand Air Force exercise full-scale airfield emergency

It’s an event everyone hopes will never happen, but one the Air Force base needs to be prepared for, to maintain capability and currency in emergency management and comply with airfield regulations.

The full-scale emergency exercise last week included personnel from RNZAF Base Auckland, New Zealand Police, Fire and Emergency New Zealand and Hato Hone St John.

Once the Hercules had landed on the runway, personnel set off smoke grenades to simulate a vehicle fire and give responders a visual clue of the crash site.

Base Rescue Fire Service was the first on the scene to put out the fire, followed by the arrival of Fire and Emergency New Zealand, enabling the two crews to work together on the response.

Once the site was deemed safe, base medical personnel and Hato Hone St John ambulance staff treated the injured and arranged transport to hospital if further treatment was required.

The New Zealand Police responded to provide security at the base and carried out duties on behalf of the Coroner and an air crash investigation

All of the activity was led by Exercise Controller Squadron Leader Andrew Fisher from the Emergency Operations Centre, where personnel from base units supported the emergency response. 

“Training activities such as these provide valuable experience for our personnel and other agencies that work with us,” he said.

“Even though there is always room for improvement, our base emergency response team showed they were ready to respond.”