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It is just past 8 a.m. on Tuesday, July 7. As he flies over Fourchue Island, the pilot of a Saint-Barth Commuter plane detects an engine problem on his aircraft. At 8:05 a.m., he alerts the control tower at Saint-Barthélemy Airport. Less than ten minutes later, as he attempts to land on the runway with the engine failing, the pilot is unable to prevent the crash. His plane crashes into a wall at the end of the runway. Among the eight passengers on board, there were several casualties, including two fatalities. A disaster scenario that, fortunately, is purely fictional. It was, however, the starting point and cornerstone of the full-scale exercise that took place on Tuesday, July 7, at Rémy de Haenen Airport.
First of Its Kind
Conceived and developed over the course of more than eight months by Saint Barthélemy’s civil protection agency, the drill mobilized Red Cross volunteers (who set up a reception center for those involved), firefighters from the Territorial Fire and Rescue Service and the airport, the SMUR (Mobile Emergency and Resuscitation Unit), the Irénée de Bruyn Hospital (which opened a crisis center), the Prefecture, the local government, the Gendarmerie (brigade and air transport), the local police, the Regional Health Agency, the airport management and control tower, not to mention about fifteen employees of Saint-Barth Commuter and some thirty extras.
“This drill is a first for the island and the first of its kind—that is, on such a large scale—at the Saint-Barthélemy airport,” says Eden Gréaux, head of the civil protection department. “We’re close to having 150 people involved. “The goal was to verify that we are prepared for this type of crisis. We’re already seeing some very positive results. We’ll be able to identify what worked and what needs to be improved. A field exercise like this benefits everyone.”
From 7 a.m. until nearly 11 a.m., the airport operated according to the exercise’s schedule. This surprised—and at times even worried—residents who had not been informed that the event was taking place.
To ensure that the various “participants” could immerse themselves in a situation that felt more real than life itself, every detail was carefully planned. From calculating the flight time between the initial report and the “crash” to the profiles of the passengers—complete with fake IDs, fake boarding passes, and so on. The extras—played by members of the Rotary Club, the Red Cross, and the SNSM—performed their roles with enthusiasm. Take, for example, this departing passenger, who was more concerned about making her connecting flights than about the accident unfolding. “We’re satisfied and relieved, because we’ve been talking about this exercise for a year and have been working on the scenario for more than eight months,” says Eden Gréaux. This Friday, the findings of the “retex” (short for “retour d’expérience,” or “lessons learned”) will be presented to all those involved in the safety drill.
