Monrudee Gettuphan, Director of Phuket International Airport, told The Phuket News that the simulation will be held in the middle of the night to simulate the reality of emergency teams working in the dark.
“This exercise will simulate what may happen in reality,” she said. “In the exercise, the emergency teams will be responding to an aircraft that slid off the runway.”
Bangkok Airways is providing one its Airbus 320 aircraft to use in the simulation.
However, the Airbus will not be stationed along the runway during the exercise for safety reasons, Ms Monrudee explained.
“This is to add realism to the incident so that emergency teams will be better prepared to respond in real situations, Ms Monrudee explained.
“It will also help boost passengers’ confidence in our ability to respond effectivly to such emergencies.”
The exercise, titled PEMEX 2015, will include the co-ordinated efforts of ambulance teams, paramedics, hospital staff and airlines in safely recovering as many “injured” persons from the aircraft as possible.
The simulation also closely recreates the fatal crash of One-Two-GO Airlines Flight 269 (OG269) at Phuket Airport on September 16, 2007.
Flight 269, operated by a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashed into an embankment beside the main runway mid-afteroon amid stormy weather with strong crosswinds.
The aircraft burst into flames upon impact, killing 89 of the 130 persons on board. One survivor succumbed to burn injuries several days after the crash.
Following damning reports over safety regulations, One-Two-GO was subsequently shut down by its parent company Orient Thai, which still operates flights today.