Participants of the planned power resiliency exercise listen as LAWA's Director of Emergency Management, Ed Bushman, provides a briefing in advance of the exercise.
(Los Angeles, CA) Late in the evening of Tuesday, September 11, more than 300 personnel from Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), Los Angeles Airport Police Division, the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), the Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, concessionaires, airlines, and airport partners gathered on the roof of Parking Structure 2A and at the Department Operations Center (DOC) at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to commence an overnight power exercise. The planned exercise assessed the impact a complete loss of power would have on the north terminals (Terminal 1, Terminal 2 and Terminal 3) and the resiliency of the systems in place in the case of such a power failure. The exercise, while only on the north complex, provided a real-time test of the backup generators, fire/life/safety systems, emergency communications and recovery protocols that are in place in the case of a major power failure.
“LAWA leads with commitment to planning and preparedness for numerous emergency scenarios. Understanding our current capabilities is essential to ensure the best guest experience possible under all conditions,” said Deborah Flint, CEO, LAWA. “We are strategically investing in power resiliency as part of the modernization of LAX.”
The goals of the exercise included discovering areas of vulnerability for the airport, identifying areas of the LAX terminal operations where further work was warranted and better preparing personnel and first responders for a real world event such as a natural disaster or major power failure. The north complex was chosen because Terminal 2 is connected to a back-up generator system that is designed to power the terminal at a high level of functionality even if power to the airport is interrupted.
“The north complex shutdown exercise was a successful demonstration of our back-up power capabilities in this area of the airport, and also provided us important insights on where we can improve our systems and response plans in the case of a full power failure,” said Bob Gilbert, Chief Development Officer, LAWA. “You don’t know what you don’t know until you test a system, and this exercise has provided us with data that will help us improve our airport’s emergency response capabilities and provide us a roadmap for similar exercises in the future.”
LAWA staff and partners monitor the resiliency of the back-up power systems.
In a post-event briefing presented to the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners today, the exercise coordinators shared that all goals for the exercise were met, the timeline was followed and normal airport operations were not impacted by the exercise. The exercise also allowed staff to determine, in real-time, where there were operational challenges, deploy resources and quickly mitigate these challenges.
"The north complex power shutdown allowed the LAFD to work seamlessly with LAWA and our public safety partners to ensure that fire and life-safety protection systems remained operational during an important training scenario," said Nikki Brodowy, Assistant Chief, LAFD. "These successful exercises allow all stakeholders to work together towards the common goal of safety and operational readiness at the airport."
The test also provided important information to the airport on areas that need additional work or testing. For instance, circuit boards in two elevators were burned out by the power surge when the grid turned back on. Additionally, emergency lighting was inadequate in certain locations, and LAWA staff is reviewing options to add more lighting to these areas.
Based on the success of the north complex power shutdown exercise, LAWA plans to host a second major power exercise early in the morning of Wednesday, October 31. This exercise will include a power shutdown and assessment of emergency back-up systems at Tom Bradley International Terminal.
High-resolution photos of the power shutdown exercise available upon request.
Stationed on the roof of Parking Structure 2A, LAWA staff confer with the LAFD during the north complex power shutdown exercise at LAX. |
