Naval aviators practise for emergencies

In preparation for the Armed Forces Day in Nordholz, the naval aviators trained for a large-scale alert and rescue exercise on Wednesday, 29 April 2026. The aim was to train civil-military cooperation in order to jointly coordinate the necessary measures in the event of an emergency.

The exercise scenario simulated the collision of two aircraft, as a result of which it
fires and a mass casualty incident. In a simulated scenario, a Sea Lynx helicopter and a P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft collided on the taxiway. Both aircraft were engulfed in flames. More than 25 multiple injuries of varying severity, including one dead person and traumatised eyewitnesses, were depicted in the exercise scenario.

As the coordination centre, the emergency services group of Naval Air Wing 3 „Graf Zeppelin“ (MFG 3) immediately initiated all necessary measures and requested the emergency and rescue services.

In order to make the exercise more realistic, it was practised during flight operations. Cooperation between the Bundeswehr and civilian blue light organisations is a key factor in an aviation accident. It is particularly important at the beginning of such an accident situation to bring order to the chaos. One focus is therefore on the coordinated and joint establishment of a technical operations control centre and local operations control and the coordination of all firefighting, rescue and recovery measures. Furthermore, communication and the
Exchange of information between the civil-military parties involved in coping with the crisis
of this major emergency situation.

Text/Photos: Naval Air Command, hsc editorial team