GCAA practices air crash drills at Fujairah

The accident exercise was a full-scale two-day exercise that was practiced within the ICAO international framework governing air accident investigation processes. This involved all effected GCAA strategy & international affairs sector and corporate communication section as well as the security sector. Safety teams from Etihad Airways, Airbus and the French BEA were all involved in the operation.

From Etihad Airways, the flight safety department, led by Captain Adrian Aliyuddin, dispatched a GO team that exercised all of its internal functions and supported the investigation exercise. A team of Airbus accident investigation specialists, headed by director for flight safety, Xavier Barriola, flew to the UAE from Toulouse, France to work closely on the project with GCAA. In addition, the French air crash investigations agency, the BEA, led by Investigator Vincent Ecalle, were also involved in the exercise sessions.

All international partners worked closely with GCAA to ensure the highest standards of safety and security were practiced during the exercise. Director general of the GCAA, Saif Al Suwaidi said: “The air accident training is an excellent and necessary exercise to further enhance the readiness of the UAE aviation operators in dealing with the occurrence of air travel incidents, if any.”
Chief Investigator fir the GCAA, Khalid Al Rais, added: “This week’s air accident exercise allows all partners involved to refine the accident process and practice the necessary procedures. It’s important that we continue strengthening and increasing the interaction between GCAA, operators, aircraft manufacturers and authorities responsible for safety investigations into accidents.

“In the UAE, GCAA is constantly working with airports to ensure the highest levels of cooperation for airport exercises, continuously testing the fire service, ambulance and first aid, as well as security aspects to maintain the proper functioning of airports emergency plans,” Al Rais said.
GCAA is planning further training and practice exercises with international partners to test and develop the procedures. The next exercise is scheduled to happen in November with Emirates.