Yesterday the Government in conjunction with MoD and RAF Gibraltar carried out a Live Air Crash Exercise to test capabilities at Strategic, Tactical and Operational level. 

A statement from the Government follows below:

These exercises provide a realistic and controlled live training environment for the learning and development of airfield incident response practices and procedures. At operational level, the response of the Emergency Services and other responding agencies were tested. 

The interoperability between various levels of command were tested, including Strategic Coordination Group which convened at No6, the Tactical coordinating Group, Responder Agencies and RAF elements.  

A Live Air Emergency Exercise is conducted every two years with a table top exercise conducted in the intervening years. The planning for these exercises is done jointly between HM Governemnt of Gibraltar and Ministry of Defence.  

Commander British Forces, Commodore Tom Guy, said: "Todays exercise once again proves the ability of the government and British forces to work seamlessly together to tackle potential emergencies. Whilst there are always lessons to be learned, I am delighted with the level of cooperation and how the exercise went.” 

Minister with responsibility for Civil Contingencies, Samantha Scramento MP, chaired the Strategic Coordinating Group, said: “It is important that Gibraltar remains prepared for any eventuality and our preparedness for an air incident or accident is no exception. I am very pleased with how HMGoG and MoD have worked together to test our capabilities and continue strengthening those ties in the worst case event of a real life incident“.