MANILA, Philippines—Just as passengers settle in their seats for takeoff, armed men in the guise of travelers seize the Boeing 737, staging what could possibly turn into the worst terror attack in the country's aviation history.

As the hostaged flight stays grounded with 100 terrified passengers, aviation officials launch a multi-agency response to end the standoff and convince the attackers to release the passengers.

The Philippine National Police Aviation Security Group (Avsegroup) will stage a simulation following this scenario on Tuesday to test its capability in responding to a terror attack and practice coordination with other airport security agencies.

Avsegroup, the police division in charge of securing all of the country's airports, will stage the biennial counter-hijacking field exercise on Tuesday at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) complex along with the security office of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA).

“This is to test interoperability operations done every other year to make sure that we are in compliance with security standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO),” said Chief Superintendent Atilano Morada, Avsegroup chief.

He said Tuesday's simulation would test Avsegroup skills at various levels of response, from negotiation and perimeter security to paramedics deployment and media control.

“The scenario is, terrorists will hijack a plane parked at the airport for departure, and there will be 100 passengers inside,” said Morada said.

Avsegroup borrowed a Boeing 737 from Air Philippines for Tuesday's field exercise, he said.

Officials of the Departments of Transportation and Communications and Interior and Local governments, the Office for Transportation Security and MIAA were invited to observe the exercise. An assessment report would be forwarded to ICAO afterwards, said Morada.