A simulated plane hijacking exercise held at the weekend has been pronounced a success by Police Commissioner Jonathan Smith.

However he said lessons had been learned including the need to improve communications. Hundreds of Police, reserve Police, Regiment troops and firefighters worked together on Friday night and into Saturday morning dealing with scenario in which Colombian terrorists forced a plane to divert to Bermuda.

The exercise was actually conducted on two buses parked together at the airport but gave Police negotiators practice at securing the release of hostages.

Mr. Smith said: “The main thing we have learned is the need to improve communications between the respective agencies. They are all on different radios.”

He said converting to the same system would cost millions of dollars so instead liaison officers would be posted to keep each section aware of the bigger picture.

“Another point which came up was the impediment of working at night when it's extremely dark,” Mr. Smith said, adding there was a need for temporary lighting to relieve that problem.

Early liaison between the different agencies was also vital - a lesson learned from September 11 when the island took planes from around the world and stepped up security.