Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF) held a full-scale, aircraft emergency disaster drill on the airfield on October 5. The airport’s Public Safety Department with support from a variety of emergency response agencies in the community utilized a portion of the airfield as part of a simulated aircraft incident. It included a period of fire, smoke and approximately 100 volunteers who acted as passengers on the aircraft. There were also activities in the terminal related to this training exercise.
“It’s crucial that our Public Safety and entire airport team are always prepared for a major aircraft incident at SDF,” said Dan Mann, Executive Director of the Louisville Regional Airport Authority, ahead of the exercise. “Even though aviation remains one of the safest modes of transportation, this exercise will give our team and community partners the chance to go through those processes.”
The exercise included the following elements:
- Numerous emergency vehicles and first responders from the airport’s Public Safety Department and mutual aid support from surrounding communities’ emergency response agencies
- A period of fire and smoke
- Conversations between dispatchers and responders on emergency radio frequencies
- About 100 volunteer role players including moulage to simulate injuries sustained from the incident
- Support helicopters staged and responding to the exercise site
“This will be the second time we’ve held an emergency aircraft training exercise of this magnitude at SDF,” added Mann before the drill got underway. “It will simulate a true emergency environment that allows our teams to respond in real time as well as other first responders in the community. It’s important we’re always testing our skills and maintaining the strong community relationships, which is why the post-exercise debrief will be equally important. It will help us all learn what worked well and where we need to improve.”
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