Simulation of illegal seizure of aircraft at the airport of A Coruña

A Coruña, 25 June 2024 (AESA)

A Coruña Airport has been the scene this morning of a simulated aerial hijacking, at the initiative of the State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA), with the active participation of the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, the Ministry of the Interior (Secretariat of State for Security, National Police and Civil Guard), the Air and Space Army, Aena, ENAIRE and the Government Subdelegation in A Coruña.

The objective pursued with this type of exercise is to keep trained the personnel involved in an event of these characteristics and corroborate the appropriate implementation of the applicable regulations. In addition, conclusions will be drawn to improve the operation in the event of a real incident.

The design and planning of this simulation, including technical training sessions, were carried out in advance and the exercise was carried out at the time when the airport estimated that there would be no interference in the normal development of airport operations.

Aircraft hijacking drill

The drill consisted of the hijacking of an aircraft in flight, simulating a general aviation flight, given for the occasion by the Air and Space Army. After take-off from Madrid, the aircraft commander communicates with the Air Traffic Control Center that a hijacking has occurred.

Once the illegal seizure was confirmed, the relevant security protocols were activated, constituting the corresponding committees for intervention in air hijackings stipulated in the regulations in force, chaired, at the airport level, by the Subdelegation of the Government in A Coruña and, at the national level, in a simulated manner, by the Secretary of State for Security. For its part, the Air and Space Army carried out its assigned tasks in this type of situation through the air defense system and permanent alert aircraft that protect the airspace of national sovereignty.

Subsequently, the hijackers were contacted to know their pretensions, according to the simulacrum project, and to initiate appropriate actions to release the hostages and regain control of the aircraft. After several hours of negotiation, the passengers and crew were released, the incident was closed and the safety devices were deactivated.

After the exercise, experts from all the entities involved began the evaluation work to obtain the corresponding lessons.