The Queensland Police Service lead the exercise which was held offshore from the Marcoola Surf Club.
The scenario around which Exercise ‘Duck Dive’ is constructed is where an aircraft, carrying around 30 passengers has ditched into the water. The exercise involved several ‘role players’ physically being rescued by boat and helicopter from the water. Land based medical assessment facilities, command, control and communication ere established near the surf club.
The objective of this multi-agency exercise is to test the emergency response to an aircraft incident at sea – with an emphasis on communications, incident assessment, decision making and resource deployment in the co-ordination of activities surrounding the incident.
The exercise forms part of the Sunshine Coast Airport’s formal obligations under the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) requirements, to take part in simulated operations of this kind on a bi-annual basis.
The airport’s Operations Manager, Jason Rainbird, said, “Exercise Duck Dive is a fantastic opportunity for key agencies to work closely together in a realistic scenario situation, and test our Airport Emergency Plan in the process. It allows us to test our procedures and implement our training in a realistic environment.”