The Guam International Airport (GIAA) was a scene of simulated chaos today as it conducted a triennial full-scale disaster exercise, which included an attempted hijacking and a subsequent plane crash.

However, there's no cause for alarm as the entire event was part of a mandatory emergency exercise required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) every three years.

GIAA Executive Manager John Quinata explained that these exercises are crucial for testing the capabilities of first responders and ensuring a coordinated and effective response to emergencies.

Quinata stated, "What happens is it tests our capabilities whenever we have an emergency of this nature that comes to the airport. It tests the capabilities of our first responders, it tests the capabilities of everyone involved to make sure we respond to an incident like this as best as we can."

Local and federal authorities, including airport police, Guam Police Department (GPD), Guam Fire Department (GFD), Customs, FBI, Department of Defense (DOD), and airline representatives, all participated in the exercise.

Airport Operations Superintendent Juan Reyes, who ran the exercise, revealed that this year's scenario involved a hijacking reported just thirty minutes before the simulated crash. Reyes said,

"With a thirty-minute scenario of a hijacking, ultimately it turned into an alert two, so it now has a mechanical problem on board the airplane. So with the mechanical problem on board the aircraft, it now led to the aircraft coming in and crashing, and that's what activated mutual aid."

Reyes emphasized that personnel safety is always a top priority, with all participants prepped ahead of time, and their reactions evaluated. He noted, "For every exercise, we actually have a scenario and a sequence of play that we follow through."

A notable addition to this year's exercise was a helicopter airlift operation conducted by the National Guard.

Reyes expressed satisfaction with the overall outcome, stating, "From my best experience, I think we did fair. Of course, there's always room for improvement."

Quinata confirmed that a thorough review, known as a "hot wash," will take place to discuss the exercise's strengths and areas for improvement.

Quinata stated, "In the after-action report, we would go through all the different scenarios of good practices and also what we need to improve on. And definitely that only takes us to future exercises like this to make sure we improve on all those things that we need to improve on."

The FAA itself was directly involved in the day’s disaster exercise.