MULTIPLE emergency service vehicles are set to descend on an Essex airport as part of a special drill.

London Stansted Airport is holding a major training exercise tonight to test the airport’s emergency response to an aircraft incident.

The training drill involves numerous airport organisations and employees, plus fire crews, police and ambulance service personnel from across the East of England, the British Red Cross and local authorities.

During the exercise, the airport is advising residents and passengers not to be alarmed by lots of blue lights because several emergency vehicles will be in the area.

The airport has held emergency exercises in the past, one of which was in June 2019 which simulated a fire in the new 2,700-space multi-story car park. 

Business Continuity & Risk Manager at London Stansted Adrian Battaini said: "The Civil Aviation Authority requires us to conduct an emergency exercise every four years to test our response to an aircraft incident.

"It gives us an excellent opportunity to continue our work with the emergency services, airport and airline companies and local authorities to see how we collectively respond to a rare but challenging incident.

"The exercise presents a scenario you hope you'll never actually experience in reality, but we're confident we have the plans and procedures in place to handle any emergency situation.

“I just want to reassure local residents and airport users that they shouldn't be concerned if they see a lot of emergency vehicles and blue lights on Tuesday evening."

The exercise will begin at 7.30pm tonight, Tuesday, October 4, in an area away from the main passenger terminal, so flight operations will not be affected.