Media Release

Mangaluru, May 28: Mangaluru International Airport in its continued quest for safe operations, conducted Mangalam – Tabletop Exercise 2024 on May 28. This exercise was a precursor to the full-scale aerodrome emergency exercise (FSAEE) that will be held in November 2024. The airport periodically conducts the tabletop and FSAEE as mandated by the civil aviation sector regulator – DGCA and as per the guidance from the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA).

The exercise, held annually as mandated by the regulator, envisaged an air crash scenario within the airport. Various agencies enacted their roles as per the probable sequence of events that could unfold in a real case scenario. Several twists were introduced in the script to test the preparedness of agencies concerned to deal with the emerging scenario. Such efforts help the airport iron out shortcomings in the overall preparedness to meet an actual exigency.

Independent observers handpicked for the exercise came up with crucial observations, which in turn would help the airport fine tune the Aerodrome Emergency Response Plan. “The exercise is a useful tool to help various agencies understand their roles and responsibilities to deal with an actual emergency,” the airport spokesperson said. The agencies involved also accepted the fact that the role play at this exercise would not go as per script in an actual situation.

Mukesh Nankani, the chief airport officer (CAO) advised all agencies to assimilate the learnings and findings mentioned by the observers and participants. “Such a step will help all concerned to avoid lapses in dealing with the real-life situation,” the CAO said. The airport, given its geographical location, incidentally, conducts FSAEE every year against the mandated period of once every second year. The table-top exercise complements the preparations for FSAEE.