In June of 2022, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released information via a CertAlert to provide continued guidance for airport operators in support of emergency preparedness and response. This CertAlert placed an emphasis on ensuring that relevant parties know their designated roles and responsibilities outlined in the Airport Emergency Plan (AEP) and incorporating lessons learned for continuous improvement.
Many airports, both big and small, activate their emergency plans quite frequently, responding to situations that at a minimum may temporarily affect the ability to operate as well as those that have the potential for property damage, and most seriously the loss of human life. Airport emergency plans typically outline a general response for a broad array of scenarios including but not limited to: aircraft emergencies, hazardous material events, power loss, crowd control and public health emergencies.
Emergency responders and airport personnel “within the fence line” are likely to be more familiar with how their facilities operate and the polices/procedures that govern emergencies for well-run responses and an efficient return to airport/airfield operations. It is the responsibility of the airport operator to ensure that all stakeholders, including those support personnel and responders from outside of the fence line know their roles when responding to the airport. This may be accomplished by providing opportunities to practice through discussion and exercise and applying lessons learned to improve performance and build capacity.
The FAA requires airports certificated under the Federal Code of Regulations Part 139 to have an emergency plan and depending on scale and type of operations, conduct full-scale emergency preparedness drills and tabletop exercises. Full-scale exercises test an airport’s ability to coordinate with firefighting/rescue agencies, law enforcement, medical organizations, the FAA and other stakeholders in the emergency plan. Specifically, many airports are required to have a full-scale emergency exercise every three years that tests their abilities to respond to an aircraft mass causality incident. A mass causality incident is defined by the US Department of Health and Human Services as an “event that overwhelms the local healthcare system, where the number of causalities vastly exceeds the local resources and capabilities in a short period of time”.
The planning period for a full-scale emergency exercise may span several years and include a significant time and resource commitment from an airport. When the day of the emergency exercise arrives, concludes successfully and the excitement is over, what happens next? In the exercise design process, attention and resources must be given to the evaluation process, specifically how lessons learned will be utilized to strengthen the airport’s capabilities. This includes updating and fine-tuning relevant policies and procedures. This step may be (and typically is) viewed as the least exciting part of the exercise process; after all the effort to plan and conduct the exercise, it is easy to lose momentum during the continuous improvement phase.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides guidance on exercise planning and design. This guidance includes a focus on improvement planning and through this process airports can develop and assign corrective action plans to build and sustain capabilities and maintain readiness. These guidelines along with tools such as hotwashes and debriefs are critical for capturing information for areas of improvement.
Hotwashes are typically informal and may be conducted immediately after an incident or exercise to capture initial feedback on how the response went. Hotwashes are especially valuable as they can be conducted quickly while the response is fresh on the mind of the those who were involved. Debriefs may be more structured and can be scheduled at an interval after an incident or exercise to present what was observed and to gather specific information from responders and stakeholders. Information from both may be utilized in the planning process of future drills and exercises to create muscle memory in areas where repetition and clarity may be valuable.
Similar principles may be applied not only to emergency exercises, but to real-life emergencies. In my career, I have found that there is a significant return on investment in increasing confidence in emergency plans that comes from a commitment to conducting a hotwash or debrief anytime the emergency plan is activated. For more complex emergencies, both a hotwash and a debrief may be useful. Taking the time, even after a minor aircraft incident where for example fire/rescue and the control tower are involved to ask each party what went well and what could use improvement is a strong commitment to building a culture of communication. After-action communication is an opportunity to increase buy-in for the emergency plan as well as building a relationship with both on and off airfield responders.
Continuous improvement and corrective actions require the commitment of an organization to view the emergency plan as a living document. Though an airport’s response plans and procedures should largely be worked through before a real-life emergency, most airport operators can appreciate through experience that written plans may not be entirely reflective of how the response occurs. The FAA released guidance in 2011 that required all certificated airports to complete a significant overhaul and update of their airport emergency plan. As an airport operator, it may be time to take an honest look at how your plan has changed since 2011 and if it is reflective of your current response procedures.
It may be advantageous to an organization to write procedures for continuous improvement into written emergency plans. Often, airport emergency plans can be heavily focused on response/recovery and thus many plans fail to detail how the verification, improvement and corrective action process will actually occur. Writing this into your plan with flexibility to contract and expand depending on the size and impact of the emergency assists the airport operator in ensuring that the emergency planning cycle does not end at recovery, rather closing the loop with plans for continuous improvement and engagement of stakeholders. This commitment will contribute to more resilient emergency plans and establishes an organizational culture of utilizing lessons learned to grow while keeping an eye forward for what’s next.
Charity Catalfomo is the principal of Convergence Solutions, LLC, a consulting firm that provides emergency management and safety services to airports. Catalfomo can be reached at: [email protected].
