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TABLETOP AND FULL-SCALE EMERGENCY EXERCISES FOR GENERAL AVIATION, NON-HUB, AND SMALL HUB AIRPORTS The focus of the report is on exercise practices that can be used by small airports; that is, general aviation, reliever, non-hub, and small hub airports. The most immediately useful parts of this report are the sample exercise tools and plans, the checklist of effective practices for tabletop and full-scale emergency exercises, and a road map for developing an effective exercise program. The purpose is to enable the reader to âgrab and goâ from the ideas and sample exercise materials, derived from a sur- vey of 58 U.S. airports regarding specific exercise plans and procedures; and from six detailed case examples. The checklist is designed to assist airport managers, emergency managers, and planners in the development, implementation, and evaluation of effective exercise programs. The sample materi- als are introduced in chapter five and provided in Appendices C through Y. The checklist appears as Appendix Z to this report. Appendix AA is a road map for the development of an exercise program at an airport of any type or size. Every airport in the study, general aviation as well as FAA Part 139, found benefits from going beyond regulatory minima for training and exercises. Many reported that the exercise guidance in the DHS Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP, Figure 1) provides the most effective model for exercises, but most of those airports noted that extensive effort is required to prepare staff to use HSEEP and to adapt the HSEEP materials to fit the airport environment. Most often, airports said that they have received valuable assistance from local government agency partners in developing exercises, particularly exercises using HSEEP templates and forms. Exercises and their outcomes are meaningless unless the lessons learned are applied through a formal process. Analysis of the data led to 13 conclusions, detailed in chapter six, âConclusions and Suggestions for Further Researchâ: 1. Small airports can and do have effective exercise programs. 2. Many airports in the study believe that an effective exercise program not only improves safety but also enhances customer service. 3. Even airports that are not required to have exercises by FAR Part 139 may choose to carry out tabletop and/or full-scale exercises. 4. Many larger airports have usable, scalable exercise tools that they are willing to share with smaller airports, which will save time and assist them in conducting effective exercises. 5. Small airports with limited resources may have difficult adapting HSEEP-based exercise materials to the airport environment, but requesting training from emergency management agencies that are already familiar with HSEEP procedures and/or resources can be helpful. 6. Airports can benefit from using a building-block approach; that is, beginning with discussion- based exercises that lead to tabletop exercises and then to full-scale exercise. 7. It is helpful if an airportâs target capabilities determine the exercise, not the other way around. It is important that airports of all sizes consider various scenarios based on likelihood, severity, and impact of possible events. 8. Stakeholder involvement can minimize cost and maximize exercise effectiveness. 9. Airports that use exercise control teams structured on Incident Command System principles and use an explicit exercise safety plan are typically more satisfied. 10. It is productive to incorporate communications procedures and plans into tabletop and full-scale exercises. SUMMARY
2 11. It is typical for exercise plans to include formal evaluation procedures. 12. Airports that have a formal process for incorporating lessons learned from exercises into emer- gency plan and procedures appear to feel more secure about their preparedness and resiliency. 13. No evaluation criteria for emergency exercise effectiveness were reported. Chapter one describes the types of exercises that airports currently use and the study method- ology. Chapter two summarizes the results of a literature review concerning resources available to airports concerning emergency exercise planning and application, and criteria for follow-up interviews. Chapter three summarizes the information gleaned through the survey. Chapter four describes the six case examples, while chapter five outlines sample exercise materials reproduced in Appendices C through Y. Chapter six presents conclusions drawn from the synthesis and suggestions for further research. FIGURE 1 Elements of HSEEP (DHS 2013).
