City of Derry Airport Mud Exercise - Foyle Search & Rescue

They say that mud is good for the skin but not the mud on the Foyle because when the tide is out it becomes very treacherous. People may think it is hard but if you take a wrong step you can be up to your chest in mud becoming immobilised and not able to set yourself free without the help of the professionals.

On Saturday 22nd of September The City of Derry Airport created an exercise for preparation for an aircraft crashing in the mud plains at the end of the runway. All the emergency services who specialise in this type of rescue attended the event. The following teams from across the country where there.

PSNI Search & Rescue
1. Fire Service of Northern Ireland
  1. HM Coastguard
    1. Irish Coastguard
      1. Foyle Search and Rescue

The teams were under the supervision of City of Derry Airport Fire team.

The Deputy Senior Fire Officer Davey Cunningham, who is in charge of emergency planning at City of Derry Airport Fire Team, states why this exercise is important:

“The purpose of today is to test the capacities should an aircraft come down on the runway into Lough Foyle and today we have all the different agencies who would be called or expected to attend this incident. The purpose of today is to get to know each other, get to know each others procedures and get to know each others way of working so that in event of something does happen and we all come together, work together. We all know what capabilities we have which help us greatly”

I was embedded with Foyle Search and Rescue observing how they save someones life when stuck in the mud. The techniques with the mud boots and mats were very effective and with a little use of advanced technology shows that the most basic techniques work with a little bit of man power which can help save a life.

The team leader Gareth Watson from Foyle Search and Rescue states:

“ Seeing the different teams working today was a great experience, valuable skills learnt today and great knowledge with everyone here today.”