A little bit more on the Emergency at the Airport/Wave

Recently, a lot of us left Muscat for the Eid vacation. A lot of us decided to jump on a plane and go somewhere. Whilst having a drink with a friend recently, he repeated to me a story so colourful I might as well share it here.

Is it true? Who knows? Have I confirmed it? Hell no.

So take it with a pinch of salt, but perhaps there are elements of truth in it.

The Emergency Response test that was conducted recently at the end of The Wave development and had tons of people scared that there had indeed been a plane crash (rather unfortunately timed with the broken news story of the entire Oman Air Traffic Control system going wrong due to a rather unfortunate "rookie error" of a junior IT technician installing an update incorrectly).

Apparently, according to an overheard conversation on a plane journey during Eid, the entire event was secretly filmed and screened for HM live. The first ROP officer on scene, rather amusingly, got out of his car, took a look at the fire, and then promptly got in his car and drove off! HAHA! A comment was made about that particular officer breaking rocks before the end of the day.

Props to Muscat Jet Driver for the above graphic!

It appeared that the people having the discussion on the plane worked for, or were linked to in some way, a consultancy firm assessing the abilities of the Sultanates emergency services. In direct contradiction to the press reports, it was noted in this overheard conversation that the tests were, in fact, a complete failure, and that "more tests will be carried out in the next 12 months".

A wild and crazy number of up to 20 'tests' are supposed to be carried out here in the next 12-24 months. I think that's a bit over the top, but perhaps we'll see more emergency response tests in the coming months. The next test is rumoured to be a bomb (not a real bomb) being let off somewhere in the region. I'd say a good spot to do a test would be somewhere in the Ministries area in Wizarat.

I guess if it happens, then the rumour will turn out to be true!

le fin.