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Harbor Police Participate in Airport Disaster Drill

Friday, 04 November 2011
Contact: Marguerite Elicone (619) 686-6222, (619) 686-6281

The San Diego Harbor Police recently assisted the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority in AirEx 2011, a disaster drill that tests the response of various agencies in airport-related crisis events.

AirEx is an event that occurs every three years. Several agencies, including the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, the Harbor Police, the U.S. Coast Guard, the US. Navy, City of San Diego Fire and Rescue, and others participated in AirEx 2011, which took place on October 26 and included a scenario where an aircraft skidded off the runway of San Diego International Airport and landed in the Navy Estuary in San Diego Bay.

If an incident like this did occur, the first responders would be the Harbor Police and San Diego Fire-Rescue. Since the emergency was on airport and Navy property, federal , state and local agencies would also be called in to assist.

In AirEx 2011, about 20 divers from throughout the county assisted in the rescue and recovery exercise. City of San Diego lifeguards vessels, as well as vessels from the U.S. Coast Guard and the Navy, pulled buoys representing humans from the water. In total, there were 60 buoys. It took rescuers 35 minutes to pull them to shore.

After all the buoys were pulled to safety, the divers searched the bay floor for about three hours. Underwater unmanned robots were used to search for mannequins that represented deceased passengers. The robots also searched for the aircraft's black box, which was recovered. The Harbor Police Dive Team took the lead in this portion of the exercise to allow other agencies an opportunity to train.

The Harbor Police Department's Command Vehicle, which includes communications equipment, portable cameras, and computers, was at the scene and allowed Harbor police staff to conduct reports and work the disaster scene from the vehicle.

The Harbor Police Department is the law enforcement arm of the Port of San Diego and has more than 130 sworn officers —all trained as firefighters and police officers. The jurisdiction of the Harbor Police includes San Diego Bay, San Diego International Airport, as well as the tidelands of the five member cities: San Diego, Chula Vista, Coronado, Imperial Beach, and National City.

The Port of San Diego was created by state legislature in 1962 and is responsible for $1.7 billion in public improvements in its five member cities: Imperial Beach, San Diego, Coronado, Chula Vista and National City.

The Port oversees two maritime cargo terminals, two cruise ship terminals, 17 public parks, the Harbor Police Department and the leases of more than 600 tenant and sub tenant businesses around San Diego Bay.