Two light aircraft had collided on landing at Sleap Aerodrome, was the call received by fire control. Information followed that one aircraft was on fire and there were two casualties trapped in the other aircraft. This was the scenario for a North Shropshire mini exercise to test the fire services response to a light aircraft crash and the airfields own emergency systems.
The exercise took place on March 20 and was attended by the Incident Commander from Shrewsbury and fire crews from Wem and Prees. Assistant District Officer Holloway and Retained Support Officers Tony Talbot and Mac Harris were the exercise staff in attendance.
The purpose of the exercise was organised to enable airfield staff to test their response to an emergency situation and to give Wem and Prees fire crews the opportunity to use the on-board foam systems on their new 8 seater fire appliances.
The exercise started with a radio message from the Sleap airfield fire crew who informed the control tower that they could not deal with the situation. Sleap control tower then placed a 999 call to Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service and both Wem and Prees fire appliances were mobilised to deal with the incident.
On arrival the crews found one of the aircraft on fire and soon started to lay a foam blanket on the situation whilst other crew members were despatched to deal with the trapped casualties. The crews soon had the fire under control and the casualties were rescued and given first aid.
Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service would like to pass their thanks to the management and staff of Sleap aerodrome for their cooperation and use of their facilities for the exercise.
