Pocono News Section

Airport Holds Plane Crash Disaster Drill

Airport Holds Plane Crash Disaster Drill - Saturday, September 13, 2008 at 10:22PM EST

Reported by: Jeff Chirico
Saturday, Sep 13, 2008 @ 10:22pm EST
AVOCA, LUZERNE COUNTY- Emergency crews raced to a fiery plane crash in Avoca Saturday morning, but fortunately it was just an exercise to see how well-prepared our local responders are.

As the fuselage burns, the passengers of a downed airliner lie injured. Fire trucks speed to the scene. But this is just a drill to see how well emergency responders can handle the real thing.

Stephen Bekanich of the Luzerne County EMA said, “This type of event they have live fire and actual persons simulating being injured - yelling and screaming. It gets the adrenaline running."

Crews from 38 agencies throughout Luzerne and Lackawanna Counties took part in the exercise. Fire fighters douse the flames. Rescue personnel and paramedics retrieve the victims. Don Hudzinski of Pittston Township Ambulance said, "There's an immediate 15 second assessment where you evaluate injuries right away, determining what level of priority they leave the scene."

The passengers are placed on colored mats depending how severe their injuries are. Some are taken to local hospitals which are also involved in today's drill too. Officials say it's vital for all these folks to know how to handle a plane crash.

“A lot of times they don't happen on airport property, so the folks in the community around the airport need to be just as prepared as the people who would respond to the airport for an incident,” added Bekanich.

Airport Director Barry Centini says the results of Saturday's drill will now be evaluated. “I'm sure we'll find, I don't want to say deficiencies, but areas we could tighten up on," he said.

That’s so they're prepared for what they hope will never happen.