A bomb threat mock exercise was conducted at the Tiruchi international airport on Friday to assess the preparedness, coordination, and response capabilities of various agencies in handling a simulated bomb threat to an aircraft and the terminal building.

The nearly two-hour exercise was planned in two phases — covering an aircraft-related bomb threat and a terminal building evacuation scenario. The drill involved coordinated participation of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Air Traffic Services, airline representatives, Intelligence Bureau, Airport Police, Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad, Customs, Immigration and other stakeholders.

The Airport Director functioned as the Coordinator of the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee. During the simulated aircraft scenario, the participating agencies demonstrated their procedures for communication, threat assessment, coordination, aircraft security, and search operations. The exercise covered the handling of a simulated suspicious baggage situation and the coordination required among security, fire, medical, airline, and other agencies.

The second scenario involved a simulated bomb threat in the terminal building followed by an orderly evacuation of passengers and staff to the designated safe assembly areas. The CISF, AAI, Fire and Rescue Services, airport stakeholders and other agencies participated in the evacuation and security response.

The mock exercise was designed to test inter-agency coordination, communication, operational preparedness, evacuation procedures and emergency response while identifying areas for further improvement. The exercise concluded with a debriefing of the participating agencies and observers, according to a press release from G. Gopalakrishnan, Airport Director, Tiruchi.