A mock drill was carried out at the Mangalore airport to check the preparedness and efficiency of the authorities concerned to deal with a major disaster situation.
A full scale emergency mock exercise was carried out in the airport premises last evening by putting on fire a miniature-model of an aircraft, official sources said.
Immediately, the alarm sound was on and the fire brigade of the Airport authority rushed in splashing white foam towards the inferno to extinguish it.
Disaster fighting mechanisms of the Airport Authority of India (AAI), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Karnataka State Fire and Emergency Service (KSFS), District Disaster Management Committee, Ambulance services, and medical aid rushed to take part in the rescue operation.
A temporary hospital was set up in the airport premises. The "victims of the drill" were picked up by the hospital teams. Chief Fire and Safety Officer H S Varada Rajan explained that as there was a lack of co-ordination at the time of plane crash in May 2010, they were leaving no loopholes.
In the May 2010 air disaster, an Air India Express plane from Dubai overshot the table-top runway at the Mangalore airport and plunged over a cliff into a wooded valley, killing 158 persons while eight passengers had a miraculous escape.