INS Dega conducts mock anti-hijack exercise at Visakhapatnam airport

A mock anti-hijack exercise was conducted by INS Dega at Visakhapatnam airport on Wednesday, 12 February. The anti-hijack exercise was conducted by creating a mock situation and involved actions by various agencies including Marine Commandos (MARCOS), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the State Government agencies. The objective of the exercise was to test the efficacy of the contingency plans and procedures to deal with hijack threats by all stakeholders.

Anti-hijack exercise at INS Dega:

The anti-hijack exercise was conducted at INS Dega in Visakhapatnam with a mock situation created using a naval Dornier aircraft for initiating coordinated actions by all stakeholders from the Navy, the airport and other Central and State agencies. On completion of the exercise, debrief was conducted and Standard Operating Procedures were revalidated to effectively deal with future contingencies.

The mock drill is conducted at every Indian airport annually as mandated by the National Civil Aviation Security Programme with an aim to test the efficiency of the airport’s Contingency Plan and to familiarise all agencies about their respective responsibilities in a hijack situation.