Emergency Landing Exercise at Zemunik Base

The Exercise’s concept aimed at testing the functioning of the system in extraordinary situations calling for urgent intervention and co-ordination of all participants in organisation, conduct and support to flying, and it also included an aircraft accident.

The Exercise scenario contained an emergency call from the «Pilatus» (PC-9-M) crew upon noticing smoke in the cockpit concurrently with flights by all squadrons of the Base (the aircraft squadron, the helicopter squadron, the transport helicopter squadron and the fire-fighting squadron) flying all aircraft types (The PC-9 (M), the “Zlin 242L”, the “Bell 206B”, the “Canadair CL-415”, the “AirTractor AT-802” and the “Mi-8” helicopter).

Immediately upon detection of smoke in the cockpit the crew announced emergency landing to the air control service, and all services within the unit for the occasions of the kind were activated. The air control ensured the conditions for emergency landing, followed by the exercise testing the readiness of the procedure conduct by the flight coordinator, the on-duty staff, the firemen, the medical unit, military police and aircraft removal service. Also, the functionality of the runway was restored to enable resumption of the air traffic. 

The Exercise was useful in terms of co-ordination with the adjacent civilian airport of Zadar and with regard to presentation of public affairs operation in crisis situations (informing of the public through press releases and preparing the commander to issue media statements).

The Zemunik Base specificity lies in the fact that civilian airplanes use the military runway for taking- off and landing. In view of intensified air traffic, both civilian and military, during summer periods, the Exercise served to test the functionality of the entire system in real time conditions and with full-intensity air traffic and a simulation of an aircraft accident situation. Each of the services had developed elaborated procedures for crisis management, and the Exercise was designed to test the readiness and trainedness of the relevant personnel as well as to optimise the standards to ensure timely and effective rescuing of crews and aircraft in real situations of the kind.

The Chief of Staff of the 93rd Base and the Exercise Administrator, Lt. Col. Davor Tretinjak stated: «The Exercise has completely fulfilled its purpose. Further analysis and practicing will help the unit confirm and upgrade its readiness for operating in emergency situations and strengthen co-ordination with all relevant civilian services”.