On Wednesday, December 13th, at 10 in the morning, checked baggage inspection personnel at the Mérida airport alerted about the “detection of a possible explosive device inside a suitcase” received by the airline Aerocontinente.
However, it was a full-scale bomb threat simulation, to put into practice all the procedures to follow if found in such a situation.
According to a statement, the drill is part of the training exercises and review of procedures dictated by the national airport security plan.
As part of the security measures, the Emergency Operation Center (COE) was integrated, led by the airport administrator, Lic. Óscar Carrillo Maldonado; Major José Ignacio Carrera Rivera, commander of Mérida for the Civil Aviation Agency, and the head of the National Guard detachment, José Alberto Dorantes.
Also with María Cristina Méndez Alvarado, Seneam regional manager, and Sapper Major Conrrado Varona Pacheco, head of the training section of the 7th battalion of combat engineers of Sedena, who supervised the immediate attention of all procedures by international standards in the matter.
During the exercise, all the offices surrounding the checked baggage area carried out the evacuation of their personnel, while the suspicious baggage was removed by personnel from the Secretariat of National Defense, who was in charge of its transfer to a safe area for its deactivation using the specialized unit for the handling of explosives.
For this, runway 18-36 was closed. After a thorough review of the entire building and once the deactivation of the “explosive device” was confirmed, the full-scale drill was concluded with everyone returning to their positions. During the full-scale drill, the operations of the air terminal were not affected and more than 50 members of the airport community participated, including airlines, service providers, and authorities.
TYT Newsroom