WACO, Texas (KXXV) — The city and emergency management held a large-scale crash simulation at Waco Regional Airport on Wednesday morning to ensure first responders are prepared if a plane goes down.
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While the event was a drill, the simulated visuals may be disturbing to some.
The scenario, a simulated plane crash, is designed to test how the airport and local agencies respond under pressure. In the past year alone, two major U.S. airport incidents, including a deadly cargo plane crash and a fatal runway collision, have highlighted how critical this kind of preparation can be.
More than 100 volunteers stepped into character at the airport on Wednesday, wearing name cards that detailed their injuries for first responders to assess. Local resident Anna Mae Barfield was among the volunteers.
"I am Emma Brown and I'm actually going to be riding on the helicopter... so I had a head wound," Barfield said.
First responders practiced treating the injured, including how to handle pets in emergency situations. Volunteer Isabella Curruth participated alongside her service dog, Dante, highlighting the importance of keeping handlers and their service animals together during transport.
"I think this is gonna be perfect for them to see what it's gonna be like trying to fit a service dog onto a stretcher and an ambulance and a medical bay, pretty much anywhere and everywhere that this is going to put me today," Curruth said.
"There's still like a huge stigma about how service dogs should be separated, but they are supposed to be transported with their handler if it's possible," Curruth said.
Justin Millican, who works in airport management, emphasized the necessity of the exercise.
"Really, the reason we do that is to help reinforce all those communication chains that we use every single day, but we try to flex a few different scenarios into. So it's something that we don't see every day like a mass casualty, but it's important for us to be prepared," Millican said.
The FAA requires airports to conduct full-scale emergency exercises like this to keep operations running safely. The airport is required to do these drills every three years, meaning the next opportunity to volunteer will not be until 2029.
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