LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES FULL-SCALE FAA-REQUIRED EMERGENCY EXERCISE
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LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) successfully conducted its triennial full-scale emergency response exercise today at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The exercise, known as AIREX, simulated an aircraft emergency incident to test the airport's emergency plan and operational readiness as required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
More than 400 participants came together for AIREX 2025 to respond to a simulated aircraft emergency, including first responders, law enforcement, airline personnel, airport staff and volunteers who portrayed passengers. The three-hour exercise was conducted at the LAX Flight Path Museum, where participants demonstrated coordination, communication and emergency response capabilities. Observers included dozens of stakeholders from airlines, airports, state and local agencies, as well as representatives from the U.S. Department of State, FBI and the Consulates General of Australia, Canada, Mexico and New Zealand.
"The safety of our guests, employees, airline partners and the entire airport community is our top priority, and exercises like AIREX are essential to maintaining our operational readiness," said Doug Webster, Chief Operations and Maintenance Officer, Los Angeles World Airports. "This triennial exercise at LAX brings together our emergency management and airside operations teams, world-class first responders and agency partners to test our emergency response capabilities under realistic conditions. Through these collaborative efforts, we continue to strengthen coordination, identify opportunities for improvement, and ensure we remain prepared to effectively respond to any emergency situation that may arise at our airport."
AIREX 2025 evaluated multiple emergency response functions, including unified command establishment, firefighting, rescue operations, triage of injured passengers and coordination between various emergency response agencies. The exercise involved more than 150 volunteers who portrayed passengers, complete with replicas of realistic injuries.
Organizations represented at AIREX 2025 included LAWA, Los Angeles Fire Department, Los Angeles Airport Police, Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Transportation Security Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The FAA requires the unrehearsed full-scale emergency exercise to be conducted by LAWA at least once every three years. LAWA officials will use information gathered during the exercise to help further refine emergency response plans at LAX.
A link to media assets can be viewed here. Credit photos as "Courtesy of Los Angeles World Airports"
LAX, the sixth-busiest airport in the world serving nearly 66 million guests in 2022, is owned and operated by Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), a proprietary, revenue-generating department of the City of Los Angeles that also governs Van Nuys Airport (VNY). As the international gateway to the Southern California region, LAX and its partners are dedicated to meeting global airport standards for customer satisfaction, safety, regional economic leadership, organizational performance and sustainability.
To better serve the millions of domestic and international guests that travel through LAX each year, the airport is undergoing a multi-billion-dollar capital improvement program to modernize its entire campus. Initiatives underway include an Automated People Mover, a Consolidated Rental Car Facility and two projects that will each add over one million square feet to the airport's existing property: Terminal 9 and Concourse 0. For more information about LAX, its transformation and its environmental, social and local workforce commitments, please visit flylax.com. Follow LAX on X (formally Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube.
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