The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) stipulate that the entire emergency organisation at international airports with regular scheduled services must be exercised every two years. These large-scale emergency drills are organised by Flughafen Zürich AG in close cooperation with its partners and supervised by the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA). 

Numerous organisations and airport partners involved
The aim of the “FORZA25” exercise was to enable the emergency services and organisations involved to train their procedures in an environment that is as realistic as possible and to gain valuable insights for a real-life emergency. In addition to various organisational units of Flughafen Zürich AG, the Zurich Cantonal Police, Schutz & Rettung Zürich, SWISS, various handling agents, Airport Emergency Teams, the Zurich Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Cantonal Civil Protection Company were also trained. At the same time, Zurich Airport’s back-end emergency organisation – the crisis team, crisis information and support services – was activated and trained.

Large-scale exercise scenario 
In the «FORZA25» exercise, the scenario centred on a lone perpetrator who intentionally triggered security-relevant incidents at several locations on the airport premises, creating a complex threat situation with multiple casualties. These included fire events, a traffic accident and a threat situation on an aircraft parked on the ground. 

A total of around 500 trained participants and around 150 extras took part in the emergency exercise. In addition, around 50 people were responsible for organising the exercise. The results will now be evaluated and incorporated into a detailed overall assessment. The findings from the final report are intended to contribute to the further optimisation of Zurich Airport’s emergency Organisation.