Monday night, the Ottawa International Airport Authority hosted a security exercise to test its active shooter emergency response plan. Airport Authority staff, along with partners from the Ottawa Police Service, Ottawa Paramedic Service, Ottawa Fire Services, Commissionaires, Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Canada Border Services Agency, Transport Canada, various airline and retail partners from the airport campus and many volunteers, participated in the training initiative which was called Exercise Silver.

Transport Canada mandates that Class 1 Airports in Canada hold an operations-based security exercise, every two years, as a means of testing the airport campus response as well as the Authority’s ability to work with outside agencies during a security emergency.

The exercise was broken down into five phases; phases one to four were played out Monday night, and the fifth phase, which will take place later this week, will include a review of the exercise as well as a business continuity tabletop exercise related to the potential impacts of a security emergency on the airport’s operation. Because a typical incident may unfold quickly, the Exercise was broken down into phases to allow the first responders to test their respective plans and meet their various training objectives.

The Airport Authority began holding active shooter training sessions with employees in 2011 as a means of introducing awareness of the risk as well as providing personal safety options to employees. In April of this year, the Authority began planning Exercise Silver as a means of testing its plan for responding to an emergency of this nature.

Exercise Objectives:
* To test the Authority’s ability to work with city responders in a security emergency;
* To test the Authority’s newly amalgamated airport operations and security operations organizations into a single Airport Operations Response Centre unit, in the context of a security emergency; and
* To test a mass casualty response.

Key Observations:
* City responders worked well with Airport Authority representatives in each phase;
* Agency interoperability was effective; and
* Based on how the scenario unfolded, the Authority’s emergency plans were successfully executed.

Results:
The Exercise was deemed a success by all participants.

The Exercise was videotaped and will be shared among police forces and airport security teams from across Canada for learning purposes. Observers from other law enforcement agencies and several Canadian airports will take information back to their respective organizations for planning purposes.

“I would like to thank all of the participating organizations for the effort they put into the detailed planning of this exercise over the past seven months. With so many first responders involved, I believe the airport, and indeed the city, will be better prepared should such a terrible situation recur in Ottawa” said Mark Laroche, Airport Authority President and CEO. “We will now reflect on the lessons learned as a team and adjust our plans accordingly”.

About the Airport Authority

OMCIAA operates Ottawa International Airport without government subsidies under an 80-year lease transfer agreement with Transport Canada. The OMCIAA’s mandate is to manage, operate and develop airport facilities and lands in support of the economic growth of the National Capital Region. More than 4.5 million passengers are served each year, generating more than $2.2 Billion in total economic activity in Ottawa and Gatineau.

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