Heathrow Airport : planning for disaster.

Bibliography: p. 25

Heathrow Airport is the biggest and busiest airport in the world, with one aeroplane a minute taking off or landing on behalf of the seventy-three airlines operating on two main runways, it's four passenger terminals surrounded by a perimeter road 10.2 miles in length and Terminal One alone having a constant capacity equivalent to a nearly-full Wembley Stadium, let alone the other three terminals. Not only are the obvious high risks of aircraft crashes on the runway present, (nearly all aircraft crashes occur during landing or taking off), but the other main risks which present a high degree of danger to members of the public and airport workers are: aircraft collisions; terrorist activity; any incident at one of the four London Underground train stations on the site; and, any of the normal risks that may be associated with modern complex sites, eg. gas leaks, electricity mains failure and the like. Describes the human dimension of planning for major disasters at the airport in some areas, in particular: the inter-organisation working relationships; the personal characteristics of some of the key staff who are involved in handling such incidents. Then goes on to look at some of the similarities and difficulties faced at Wembley Stadium