Cabinet Secretary reviews emergency response systems at Indian airports
India's Cabinet Secretary, Shri KM Chandrashekhar, held (07-Feb-09) a meeting to review the response mechanisms of relevant Aviation Security organisations involved in cases of emergency situations. The meeting follows an incident that took place at Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport on 01-Feb-09, which resulted in the emergency landing of an Indigo aircraft, due to a passengers disruptive behaviour.
The Cabinet Secretary, Shri KM Chandrashekhar, today held a meeting on 07-Feb-09 to review the response mechanism of various organizations involved in Aviation Security in case of an emergency scenario. This was against the backdrop of the incident that had taken place at IGI Airport, Delhi on 01-Feb-09, which had resulted in an emergency landing of the Indigo service 6E-334, due to the disruptive behaviour of a passenger.
After intense deliberations with all agencies which involved, it was decided that:
- The Standard Operating Procedures of all concerned agencies to be up-dated, for faster and effective response;
- Flow of information and decision-making process to be streamlined further;
- Airports Infrastructure, prescribed for emergency situation, to be maintained in operational readiness, at all times;
- Special training needs to be identified for pilots and cabin crew of all airlines to handle emergency situations;
- All civil airports across the country, to have regular emergency drills and briefing programmes for all concerned agencies to handle emergency situation.