Full-Scale Emergency Exercise at LAX; 04/10/19

LOS ANGELES - On April 10th, 2019, approximately 200 emergency response personnel and 300 observers participated in the 2019 LAX Air Exercise (AirEx), a full-scale simulation designed to test Los Angeles International Airport’s (LAX’s) readiness to respond to an aircraft accident on the airfield. This three-hour, unrehearsed exercise is required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to be conducted by Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) at least once every three years. The objective is to evaluate the operational capability and readiness of LAX’s incident management and emergency response and management system in a real-time environment in which personnel, equipment and materiel are mobilized and deployed.

Representatives from multiple organizations, in both the public and private sectors, will be involved, including: LAWA; the Los Angeles Fire Department; the American Red Cross-Los Angeles Chapter; Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Department and Coroner’s Office; Federal Bureau of Investigation; FAA; Transportation Security Administration (TSA); U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP); Cedars Sinai, Kaiser Permanente and Southwest Airlines. In addition, about 150 volunteers will role-play accident victims, including many in moulage (special effects makeup applied to simulate injuries).