Officials say airport disaster drill offers lessons (VIDEO)

It could have been a movie scene.

On Tuesday morning, the Wichita Airport Authority conducted a drill simulating a full-scale mass disaster at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport.

The drill simulated the crash landing of a 737-700 commercial airliner that broke apart on impact.

The exercise was complete with a fire and bodies scattered in the field near the runway. Students from Bishop Carroll High School and Derby High School’s ROTC program played the victims.

They wore realistic makeup to look like they’d been in a major accident. They were kept away from the fire for safety reasons.

“It’s a big drill for us,” said Deputy Chief Jason Jones, with the Airport Police and Fire. “This is a required exercise that we do once every three years. It’s required by the FAA and it allows us to work with … agencies in Sedgwick County and see if the plans and procedures that we have in place actually work.”

The airport has never had a commercial airline disaster, Jones said. But the systems in place to respond must be tested in case there ever is.

The main goal is to find out the strengths and weaknesses of the airport and emergency responders and the various agencies that would respond to an accident, said Wichita Airport Police and Fire Chief Roger Xanders.

After the drill, the actions and response times will be evaluated.

“We learn a lot of things from this,” Xanders said. “We try to make this as close to possible as we can. It teaches our individuals and our responders how to act.”

Instead of an airplane, a bus was placed on the runway.

From the time of the radio call, it took two to three minutes for the first responders to arrive on the scene.

But “it feels like forever,” Jones said. “Two minutes feels like 20 minutes” during an emergency.

The first goal is to extinguish the fire so people inside a plane can get to a safe area. The next is to get passengers out of the airplane to safety, Jones said.

Emergency medical personnel arrived on the scene to help the wounded.

“Anybody that can walk, walk toward the ambulance,” shouted one emergency medical worker to the student victims in the field.

The students wore tags noting the nature and severity of their injuries and whether they survived the crash.

Medical personnel went to each person in the field to assess their injuries. They gave the “victims” a colored arm band noting their severity.

“I can’t feel my legs,” said Sierra Myers, a Bishop Carroll senior, who was lying in the field with a simulated severed foot. “Why can’t I feel my legs?” she asked the emergency responder.

“We’re going to get you some help,” said the responder. “Just hang tight.”

The victims were put on red sleds and pulled to the ambulances.

Helicopters from Life Team and EagleMed landed and took off. In a real emergency, they would carry the critically injured to Wichita hospitals.

In all about 300 people from a variety of agencies, departments and organizations took part in the drill.

Inside the terminal building, some students played the role of family and friends of the victims. They were kept in a room on the second floor and given updates about what was happening in the field.

The students benefit from taking part in the exercise, said Chief Master Sgt. John Pritchett, who is with the ROTC program at Derby High School.

“It teaches them about what the community does,” Pritchett said.

They get an understanding about what firefighters and emergency medical personnel do and what triage is, he said.

“It teaches them about life events. It’s educational.”

“I think it’s going really well,” Jones said an hour and a half into the drill.

There are a few things that may need changing or improving, but “nothing critical or major,” Jones said.

This story was originally published September 16, 2014 at 11:14 AM with the headline "Officials say airport disaster drill offers lessons (VIDEO)."