The Chattanooga Airport will hold a full-scale aircraft incident drill on Wednesday, April 19, starting at 9 a.m.
The mock incident exercise, which the airport is required to conduct every three years, will simulate an aircraft accident, and involve several emergency responders from the Chattanooga and Hamilton County area. This drill will not affect any flights to or from the airport.
Chattanooga residents should not be alarmed if they see numerous emergency vehicles enroute to the airport before and during the drill.This drill’s purpose is to test the capabilities of Chattanooga Airport and local emergency response agencies should an actual aircraft accident occur.
Exercise objectives include testing communications, fire and police response, emergency medical response, hospital mass casualty plans, interagency coordination and the incident command system. Participants are given a disaster scenario involving multiple casualties and required to treat the exercise as if it were a real-life situation.
Other agencies participating include: Chattanooga Airport Fire Department, Chattanooga Airport Police, Chattanooga Fire Department, Chattanooga Police Department, Hamilton County Emergency Medical Services, Hamilton County Office of Emergency Management, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, FBI, Hamilton County Communications, Hamilton County Emergency Operations Center, Hamilton County Medical Examiner’s Office, Federal Aviation Administration, US Forestry, Life Force and several other volunteer agencies.
For more information about the Chattanooga Airport, visit chattairport.com.