APT Pranoto Samarinda Airport Tests Readiness for Emergency Situations

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The readiness of APT Pranoto Samarinda Airport to handle emergency situations was tested through a major emergency response exercise involving multiple agencies, including the military-police forces (TNI-Polri) and the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG).

This exercise aimed to ensure that all personnel and relevant parties can deliver quick, precise, and coordinated responses in the event of an actual emergency at the airport.

“This drill not only tests the preparedness of personnel and equipment but also ensures that all emergency response procedures can be carried out quickly, accurately, in a coordinated manner, and according to established operational standards,” said Head of the Public Service Agency at Class I APT Pranoto UPBU Office, I Kadek Yuli Sastrawan, in a statement on Saturday (19/9/2026).

Pandawa Borniat/kompas.com Flight activities at APT Pranoto Samarinda Airport continue to operate normally, Friday (21/8/2026).

The exercise was conducted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Transportation, through the Public Service Agency at Class I APT Pranoto UPBU Office on Friday (18/9/2026) at APT Pranoto Samarinda Airport.

The activity comprised two main agendas: the Full Scale Airport Emergency Exercise (AEE) and the Airport Contingency Exercise (ACE).

Both simulations were designed to test the readiness of personnel, equipment, procedures, communication, and inter-agency coordination in facing emergencies and security disturbances at the airport.

In the first session, the Airport Emergency Exercise (AEE) was carried out by the Aviation Accident Rescue and Firefighting Unit (PKP-PK) together with the entire Airport Emergency Handling Committee.

The exercise then continued with the Airport Contingency Exercise (ACE), directed by the Aviation Security Unit (Avsec) along with the entire Airport Security Committee.

Through these two simulations, each involved party tested their ability to perform their respective duties and roles.

The tested aspects included communication mechanisms, coordination, decision-making, and resource mobilization when facing emergency conditions at the airport.

The exercise also involved external parties beyond the airport’s internal units.

Several external agencies participated to test the effectiveness of coordination during situations requiring integrated handling.

The involved agencies included technical directorates under the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, East Kalimantan Provincial Government, Samarinda City Government, the military and police forces comprising Lanud Dhomber Balikpapan Air Force Base, Samarinda Police Headquarters (Polresta Samarinda), and Military District Command 0901/Samarinda.

Additionally, the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), Immigration, Customs and Excise, Quarantine, BMKG, AirNav Indonesia, and representatives from airlines operating at APT Pranoto Airport participated.

I Kadek emphasized that multi-agency involvement is crucial to ensure each party understands their roles and responsibilities during emergencies.

“Handling airport emergencies requires cooperation and coordination across agencies. Therefore, through this joint exercise, we want to ensure that each party understands their role, duty, and responsibility so that when a real emergency occurs, responses can be executed in an integrated and effective manner,” he explained.

Simulation results to inform evaluation

Once the full series of exercises were completed, the activities continued with an evaluation conducted by external observers.

This evaluation aimed to measure the effectiveness of the emergency responses tested and identify areas needing improvement.

The evaluation results will be used to refine procedures and strengthen inter-agency coordination to better prepare for all possible emergency scenarios at the airport.

“Through this evaluation, we hope to identify aspects that require enhancement and improvement. The exercise results will serve as material for procedure refinement and coordination strengthening, so the airport’s readiness in facing various emergency conditions can continue to improve,” affirmed I Kadek.