Athens International Airport organises emergency exercises on an annual basis, aiming to test its Emergency Plan and ensure the highest level of readiness, training, and the coordination of all parties involved in emergency situations.
The FULL SCALE Emergency Exercise 2023 "Incident on Airport involving aircraft: Aircraft Collision" was successfully carried out, in accordance with the regulations of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
This year’s exercise has been conducted with the participation, -for the first time- of 2 airlines, AEGEAN and Volotea, and 2 Ground Handling Agents, Goldair Handling and Skyserv.
Besides Athens International Airport S.A., the following entities participated in the exercise:
- AEGEAN
- Volotea
- Hellenic Aviation Service Provider / Air Traffic Control Tower (HASP / ATCT)
- Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA)
- Airport Hellenic Fire Corps (AHFC)
- Fire Brigade (Fire brigades of neighboring communities - Koropi, Markopoulo, Pallini - personnel from the 1st EMAK & 80 students from the Fire Brigade)
- Airport Hellenic Police (AHP)
- Airport Services Emergency Medical Care (ASEMC)
- National Center for Emergency Assistance (NCEA)
- SkyServ Handling
- Goldair Handling
- Hellenic Air & Rail Safety Investigation Authority (HARSIA)
EXERCISE SCENARIO
According to the scenario of the exercise, "On November 22, 2023, an Airbus A320 aircraft of AEGEAN, with flight number A3 9999 and a crew of 2 people in the cockpit and 4 people in the passenger cabin, and a total of 54 passengers, took off from Heraklion with destination to Lyon.
At 10:30 a.m. local time, the aircraft declares emergency due to severe turbulence during the flight, that caused 3 serious injuries. There is also a report of an unconscious passenger.
The Air Traffic Control authorizes the aircraft to land in the Western Runway System.
On taxiway "A", in the Western System, there is an Airbus A319 aircraft of Volotea, with flight number V7 2023, performing the scheduled flight from Athens to Santorini, with a crew of 2 people in the cockpit and 4 people in the passenger cabin, and a total of 30 passengers.
The Volotea aircraft cleared to take off, collides with the AEGEAN aircraft during its landing.
As a result, there are injuries in both aircraft involved, while the engine under no. 1 of Volotea's aircraft catches fire."
- END OF SCENARIO –
Important Note: The photographic material of the Emergency Exercise can be used exclusively for the communication purposes of the exercise.