The Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) has announced that it will run a full-scale emergency simulation exercise at Entebbe International Airport tomorrow, Friday, May 23, 2025.
The exercise will be conducted together with key aviation and emergency response stakeholders.
“The objective is to assess the readiness and coordination capacity of Entebbe International Airport and that of stakeholders in responding to emergency situations in line with international best practices and regulatory requirements,” UCAA said in a statement on Thursday.
The exercise will feature simulated smoke and fire, ambulances, and other emergency vehicles with sirens in and around the airport environment.
This is not the first time UCAA is conducting emergency exercises at the airport. The most recent exercise was conducted in June 2024.
Emergency exercises are a mandatory requirement for international airports of countries that are member states of the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations that manages the administration and governance of the Convention on International Civil Aviation.
The exercise evaluates the airport’s readiness to respond to emergencies, involving various agencies like firefighters, medical staff, and rescue teams.
The partial exercise conducted last year involved a simulation of an aircraft with passengers and crew on board. The exercise assumed that the flight lost power shortly after takeoff and crashed at a spot adjacent to the runway before one of its engines caught fire.
It was presumed that dozens of people had died, while several others survived with severe injuries, prompting an emergency response. Airport firefighters and other rescue teams were quickly mobilized to carry out rescue operations. Multiple hospitals were alerted and responded swiftly by dispatching ambulances and medical personnel to the scene.
UCAA informed passengers and residents of Entebbe, Kampala, and surrounding areas that the activities are part of a planned and controlled exercise and should not be a cause for alarm.
