RICHMOND, Va. — It's an airport emergency you hope never to experience: a Boeing 737 crashing into a Gulf Stream 6 private jet while attempting to land.
But as bad as it seemed, the controlled chaos at Richmond International Airport on Thursday morning was just a drill.
Everything from the lights, victims, and overall response were made to look real to test plans, policies and procedures in a realistic environment.
"What we don't want to do is find a weakness or a gap in those plans when it actually happens," said Jessica Robison, an emergency management coordinator with Chesterfield County.
Thursday's drill was part of the FAA's mandated emergency drills conducted every three at airports like RIC, which are designed to put their emergency readiness to the test in the event of an aircraft incident.
"By making it as real as possible, we're able to present an environment that similar to if this were to happen in the real world," said Alex Tran, a regional exercise project coordinator with Virginia Department of Emergency Management.
Tran is the brains behind the operation — and while it's potentially anxiety-inducting, he said it is all for the public's benefit.
"By having different exercises, we're able to provide reasonable assurance to the general public that if there are residents of the greater Richmond area, if they're traveling through the airport, that your first responders and stakeholders are ready to do what they need to do," Tran said.
"This is a full scale, emergency response," said Troy Bell, a public information officer at RIC. "This is a day we hope never actually happens at the airport, but at least once every three years, there are other opportunities for training between them, where we all come together and we're able to respond much more effectively because we have done so."
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
📲: CONNECT WITH US
Blue Sky| Facebook| Instagram| X| Threads| TikTok| YouTube
