It was all hands on tarmac.
Abilene firefighters, police and medical personnel rushed to the scene of a fallen jet, except it was all entirely preplanned.
"What this teaches us to do is to communicate with our other city departments," said Chris Taylor, assistant manager of aviation for the city of Abilene. "To work with fire regularly, to work with police, to bring all of the departments within the city together to solve a problem."
Personnel from the Abilene Regional Airport had a full scale practice of its emergency plan. The exercise is mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration to be conducted every three years.
Volunteers act as injured passengers, dispatchers send out emergency personnel and a rescue helicopter even comes on scene to transport the 25 seriously injured.
Officials say its a key part of the hands on training.
"In the other two years we're actually sitting around a table and planning a response," said Director of Aviation for Abilene Don Green, "so this gives us a chance to get all of the agencies together, all the first responders and see how it all comes together."
Part of the simulation is using the cabin of an actual airplane as a jet that has just crashed landed on the tarmac. it may be an exercise, but workers say its a close as it gets to real life.
"The more stressful we make it on them now in an exercise setting the less stressful the real life situation will be," said Lt.Greg Goettsch, of the Abilene Fire Department.
Abilene Regional is just one of thousands of airline carrier airports that must conduct this type of exercise and with a number of recent emergency landings including one in right here Abilene just last Aug., Goettsch says preparation is crucial.
"Departments are constantly replacing folks, folks retire and we're able to work them into this process and get them seasoned into it so that in that way when we do have a real emergency it's not such a shock to them," he said.
Abilene firefighters, police and medical personnel rushed to the scene of a fallen jet, except it was all entirely preplanned.
"What this teaches us to do is to communicate with our other city departments," said Chris Taylor, assistant manager of aviation for the city of Abilene. "To work with fire regularly, to work with police, to bring all of the departments within the city together to solve a problem."
Personnel from the Abilene Regional Airport had a full scale practice of its emergency plan. The exercise is mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration to be conducted every three years.
Volunteers act as injured passengers, dispatchers send out emergency personnel and a rescue helicopter even comes on scene to transport the 25 seriously injured.
Officials say its a key part of the hands on training.
"In the other two years we're actually sitting around a table and planning a response," said Director of Aviation for Abilene Don Green, "so this gives us a chance to get all of the agencies together, all the first responders and see how it all comes together."
Part of the simulation is using the cabin of an actual airplane as a jet that has just crashed landed on the tarmac. it may be an exercise, but workers say its a close as it gets to real life.
"The more stressful we make it on them now in an exercise setting the less stressful the real life situation will be," said Lt.Greg Goettsch, of the Abilene Fire Department.
Abilene Regional is just one of thousands of airline carrier airports that must conduct this type of exercise and with a number of recent emergency landings including one in right here Abilene just last Aug., Goettsch says preparation is crucial.
"Departments are constantly replacing folks, folks retire and we're able to work them into this process and get them seasoned into it so that in that way when we do have a real emergency it's not such a shock to them," he said.
