Hamilton Airport conducts simulated hostage taking

There was some excitement at Hamilton’s airport Wednesday.

Airport officials and Hamilton police conducted a simulated hostage-taking on an aircraft to test Hamilton International’s emergency response plan.

“It’s a good thing to test these things so that we are prepared in the future.”

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The 3.5-hour training exercise involved more than 100 police officers, airport personnel and employees from Flair Airlines.

“It’s a good thing to test these things so that we are prepared in the future should an unfortunate circumstance like this unfold,” said Dina Carlucci, Hamilton International’s communications and marketing director.

Carlucci says exercises of this nature are mandated by Transport Canada.

“Should an actual scenario like this unfold one day we know how to respond and pull all the right resources together,” added Carlucci.

Hamilton Airport also tested its emergency response plan in October when it simulated a plane crash at its Mount Hope site.