What's the situation? At half past two in the morning on June 27, 2024, when most people were still asleep, a state of emergency broke out at Macau International Airport. A flight registered in another country was hijacked by a foreign armed group and forcibly landed at the Macau International Airport. The group made unreasonable demands to the Macau SAR government, including the release of an organization leader imprisoned in Macau, the payment of a huge ransom, and the demand that the original plane return to its place of departure or threaten to kill the passengers and crew on board.
In the face of this sudden crisis, MIA responded quickly and immediately activated its emergency response plan. The Public Security Police Force assumed the role of commander of the accident. Upon hearing the news, the personnel of various organs rushed to the emergency operation center and threw themselves into the rescue operation.
The Commander of the Accident quickly arranged for members of the Judicial Police Negotiation Team to negotiate with the hijackers. In the course of the negotiations, the armed groups briefly released some of the hostages, but then the negotiations reached an impasse. Faced with this complex situation, the Incident Commander made a decisive decision and instructed the Special Operations Group of the Public Security Police to carry out a surprise operation. After a thrilling battle, the Einsatzgruppen team successfully arrested 4 hijackers and safely rescued 20 passengers and 4 crew members.
It turned out that this was not a real terrorist attack, but a well-planned exercise by Macau International Airport to test and enhance the ability of all participants to identify and handle civil aviation security emergencies. The exercise was coordinated by the Public Security Police Force and actively participated in the exercise by a number of government agencies, including the General Police Force, the Customs Department, the Judicial Police Department, the Fire Department, the Health Bureau, the Marine and Water Affairs Bureau, and the Civil Aviation Authority. In addition, aviation operators such as Macau International Airport Co., Ltd., Air Macau, S.A., Macau Security Company Limited and Mingjie Macau Airport Services S.A. also joined the exercise. The entire exercise ended at about 5 a.m. and achieved the expected results, with about 300 participants.
Looking back, MIA has always maintained a high level of vigilance in terms of aviation security. In September last year, the airport also held an exercise called "Bomb Threat Exercise 2023". In that exercise, two members of a foreign terrorist organization were found to be carrying suspected explosives while transiting at Macau International Airport. The units quickly activated the airport emergency plan to deal with the incident, successfully subdued the two members involved, and safely destroyed the suspected explosives. The exercise went smoothly and achieved the desired results.
In addition, in order to further enhance the airport's ability to respond to emergencies, Macau International Airport also held the "2024 Oil Depot Fire Drill" in May. The exercise simulated a fire at an oil depot at the airport and successfully carried out emergency rescue work. During the exercise, Nam Kwong Petrochemical Co., Ltd. (the airport jet fuel supplier) quickly activated an emergency response plan after discovering the fire and immediately moved vehicles from the vicinity of the fire from the scene. The airport fire station quickly dispatched fire trucks to the scene to fight the fire. Considering the danger of the location of the incident, the on-site commander decisively evacuated the nearby staff and contacted the fire department headquarters to request reinforcements. The entire exercise lasted about 30 minutes and was successfully completed without any casualties.
The purpose of the oil depot fire drill was to test and evaluate the emergency rescue capability of Macau International Airport in response to emergencies such as fuel depot fires at the airport. Through the exercise, the airport was able to test the coordination and cooperation between the various relevant departments and the effectiveness of the emergency response plan so that it could respond quickly and effectively in the event of an actual fire and protect the safety of airport personnel and property.
As an important international gateway to Macau, Macau International Airport has always attached great importance to aviation security. Airport security personnel are an important force in ensuring the safety and order of airports. They work 24 hours a day and are responsible for daily patrols, airport surveillance, vehicle access control, and security checks of food and beverage items, cargo and luggage on board. It is the hard work and dedication of these security personnel that makes the journey at the airport safer, more enjoyable and more comfortable. Regardless of whether the flight is early or late, the security personnel of Macau International Airport always stick to their posts to protect the safety of every passenger.