Multiagency plane crash exercise staged at Bacchus Marsh

Around 80 personnel from CFA, Victoria Police, SES, and Ambulance Victoria, with support from the Moorabool Shire council, took part in the training. 

District 15 Commander Gavin Hope, who oversaw CFA’s response, said multiagency training exercises are vitally important to ensure crews are ready for real-life emergencies.  

“Bringing all agencies together and working as one is an invaluable experience, so when or if something does happen, we all understand each other and know how each agency operates,” Gavin said.   

“It tests our interoperability to communicate through our radio networks so we can coordinate seamlessly and efficiently.” 

The training exercise situation centred around a small plane making an unplanned landing at the Bacchus Marsh aerodrome. It inadvertently crashed into another plane, causing both planes to catch fire, along with a subsequent grassfire nearby.  

Pentland Fire Brigade Group 4th Deputy Group Officer Daniel Williams, who acted as CFA incident controller, said CFA broke response efforts into two sectors because of the two separate fire incidents.    

“Because life is the priority, resources were directed to the aircraft initially, then as other units came on the scene, command directed them to the grassfire risk,” Daniel said. 

“Once crews had extinguished the fires, the incident was handed to Victoria Police.” 

Brigades were briefed on the situation in real-time to ensure the simulation remained realistic.   

“A lot of work went into ensuring the drill accurately represented a situation that crews would face in the real world,” Daniel said.  

“Overall, the training went very well; we got to work together with the other agencies, tested our response plans and gave some new members valuable experience.  

“Every agency held a debrief after the exercise concluded and looked at ways we can improve, and that’s the main idea. 

“If there are any issues, we want to iron them out in training, not during real-life incidents. 

“We’ve all taken away some really valuable lessons from this drill.”