Smoke on the airfield

Black smoke billowed from the runway at Malta International Airport, a sinister echo of the scene that happened 25 years ago with the Egyptair hijack.

This time, however, it was just a training exercise intended to prepare emergency personnel in the event of a similar large-scale tragedy at the airport repeating itself.

The exercise, part of ongoing training for airport rescue staff, involved two simultaneous scenarios.

One was a passenger plane carrying 26 passengers being damaged extensively, killing one and injuring 11. Some of the surviving passengers were trying to leave the plane; others were trapped.

The other scenario involved a cargo plane carrying hazardous material flaring up, killing all of three people on board.

“The exercise was a success, even though not 100 per cent,” a spokesman for the airport said. The aim of the exercise, he explained, was to fine-tune the emergency services and this would only happen after a debriefing session.

“To be prepared for such eventualities, practice makes perfect and, luckily, our department does not get a lot of practice. The last accident on this scale we had to deal with was 25 years ago when the Egyptair hijack occurred,” the spokesman said.

The exercise saw some MIA staff leave their desks for a day and pretend they were injured passengers. The spokesman said the exercise did not end when the fire was put out but when the pretend-casualties were discharged from Mater Dei Hospital, where they were taken with an ambulance.

Air Malta, the Armed Forces of Malta, the Civil Aviation Directorate, the Civil Protection Department, the Department of Information, the Health Emergency Services, Emirates, Lufthansa, Malta Air Traffic Services, the Malta Police, Servisair GlobeGround Malta, St John Rescue Corps and Malta Red Cross were all involved in the exercise.