Macau International Airport conducts different types of exercise every year with the aim of training the government entities and operators involved in the airport search and rescue to deal with emergencies. The airport conducted the yearly full scale emergency exercise this morning (10 June 2014) to simulate the scenario of an accident that occurred in the apron involving an aircraft which was being refueled at that time. The accident led to fire and injuries. The airport emergency plan was immediately activated to deal with the accident.

The exercise started at 05:00 with the simulation of an aircraft accident in the apron. In the scenario, an aircraft with 120 crew members and passengers was preparing for departure from Macau International Airport. Passengers for the flight were boarding the aircraft which was in the meantime also being refueled. With unknown reason the lift platform of the refueling truck dropped which caused the inboard fuel hose to separate sideways from the aircraft. The fuel was spraying in all directions. There was fire as a result and the flames propagated to the truck and the aircraft engine. The captain of the flight evacuated all people on board at once. The captain of a business jet which was parked nearby also evacuated the passengers and the crew immediately. When the accident was reported to the Administration of Airports, Ltd. (ADA), the airport emergency operations centre was immediately activated to take charge of the accident. The Fire Services and the rescue team arrived on spot. Although there were a number of injuries resulting from the accident, with the assistance provided by and the cooperation between the participating entities, the injured were sent to hospital for medical treatment in a timely manner. The exercise was concluded at 09:00 and deemed smooth. The number of participants was 350.

The full scale emergency exercise was carried out in accordance with the 2014 year plan defined by the Facilitation and Security Committee in the beginning of this year. ADA was the coordinator of this drill. Other participating entities were Unitary Police Force, Macao Customs Services, Public Security Police Force, Judiciary Police, Fire Services Bureau, Health Bureau, Marine and Water Bureau, Civil Aviation Authority, Air Macau Co. Ltd., Macau Jet International Co. Ltd., Macau Security Company Ltd. (airport security), Menzies Macau Airport Services Ltd. and Nam Kwong Petroleum & Chemicals Co. Ltd. In addition, the Social Welfare Bureau, the Tourism Crisis Management Office, CAM-Macau International Airport Company Ltd. and East Asia Airlines Ltd. took part in the exercise as observers.