Evaluating the Unattended Bag: avoiding terminal evacuations

18 Apr 2011

Over six million passengers pass through airports every day[1], each carrying at least one item.  Some of these items are placed, dropped, lost, abandoned or otherwise left unattended. Every time this happens the area around the item should be evacuated to 100 meters, preferably three hundred.  Remembering that blast is spherical, the areas above and below should also be cleared and all gas, electrical, and other utilities closed off. As a result, business continuity plans should be initiated to cover the disruption and the knock on effects to flights around the world.  Obviously, this does not happen every time an item is left unattended.  The item could be a bomb or, more likely, lost property or rubbish. The skill is being able to tell the difference, to implement the appropriate response options, and to be able to justify the decisions made. Donald S. Williams outlines the key question in relation to unattended items as to “why would we think this item poses a hazard?” and how it may be answered.   

It is important to recognise that airports have been targets for bomb attacks and the threat is real, but also to recognise that not every item is a bomb.  Conventional guidance might suggest that an evacuation should be initiated every time a “suspicious item” is identified and this is always an option available to managers.  The assumption underlying this article is that evacuations should be avoided whenever possible. Experience shows that evacuating large numbers of people creates its own hazards and risks as well as the ensuing disruption to business, knock-on effects for airline schedules as well as business continuity and media/image management issues. The reality is airports do not usually initiate a general evacuation and the following consideration may provide guidance on how to justify the decision to evacuate or not. MORE ONLINE

[1] Extrapolated from ICAO annual report 2009 (2280 million/365)

Leave a Reply