Mohali: In a first-of-its-kind full-scale emergency preparedness exercise, a mock drill simulating a mid-air engine fire and crash landing was conducted at Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport Sunday. The large-scale drill involved coordinated efforts from the IAF, Chandigarh International Airport Limited (CHIAL), CISF, civil defence units, police forces from Mohali and Chandigarh, and fire and medical departments from across the tricity.The high-intensity drill, carried out between 9.40 am and 12 noon, took advantage of the non-operational flight window at the airport on Sundays. The simulation was based on a scenario where a passenger aircraft experienced an engine fire mid-air, forcing an emergency landing near the threshold of the runway.The drill began with a distress call made to ATC by a dummy airline at 9.40 am, alerting authorities about a fire in one engine and requesting immediate emergency landing clearance. A bus carrying 26 officials posing as passengers was parked at the designated crash landing site to simulate rescue and evacuation operations. Personnel from multiple agencies swiftly responded, with fire tenders from the Air Force, Mohali, and Chandigarh, as well as CISF and medical teams, rushing to the site.
