May 28, 2007

"Thunderstorm 2007", the special tactical exercise took place at Almaty International Airport, May 28, 2007, involving all rescue and emergency services of Almaty

According to exercise legend, the landing gear of an aircraft gets damaged during the landing. The wing touches the runway that causes fuel leakage and subsequent extensive fire. The lives of 200 passengers and 10 crew members are at risk...

Within three minutes the fire brigade arrived at the accident site, and it took another minute to extinguish fire. Fifteen minutes later, all passengers and the crew had been evacuated from the airplane. "Injured" passengers were placed to the mobile hospital, that was deployed nearby.

The damaged aircraft was later evacuated from the runway using the unique special equipment, capable of lifting up and putting the 90- tonn aircraft to the efacuation trollies.

The emergency teams showed excellent performance meeting ICAO requirements for rescue operations.

Almaty International Airport is investing a lot in special equipment and vehicles, and it is currently one of the 12 best equipped airports of the world.