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Anyone who drove past the Regina airport early Tuesday might have seen a big, thick cloud of black smoke coming from the area.
While black smoke usually means something bad has happened, it was nothing out of the ordinary Tuesday, when emergency crews were simulating what would happen if they were to respond to a plane crash on the runway.
Regina Airport Authority president and CEO James Bogusz explained what went was happening.
“Today, our airport staff were joined by about 150 volunteers, responding agencies and many partners here simulating the crash of an aircraft,” Bogusz said.
“As an international airport, we’re required every two years to practise our emergency response. We do this proudly. This is for the health and safety of all our travellers here in the Queen City and southern Saskatchewan.”
A big day @FlyYQR as crews took part in emergency airplane crash drills. @CJMENews
The airport is required to do this every two years.
150 people took part in all aspects of the procedure and it takes six months to organize the event. pic.twitter.com/e1O0FeO39Q
— Shane (@ShaneC06) September 27, 2022
The emergency response drills got started at an unused part of the airport away from where planes could land.
Emergency crews spread 2,500 litres of fuel onto a simulated plane and lit it on fire. Fire crews then had to rush to put out the blaze.
After the fire was out, emergency crews set up triage stations on buses where actors who played “injured” people would wait for an ambulance to take them to hospital.
Throughout the process, crews participating in the emergency drill communicated with each other via radio as if it was a real situation.
“Working together, collaborating and making sure we exercise this important muscle — which is all about emergency response — will ensure that our airport staff as well as all of our responding partners are ready in the event something like this will happen in the future,” Bogusz said.
While the exercise happens only once every two years, Bogusz says the airport and its partners spend months planning in advance to make sure they can pull it off.
“It almost feels like we’re planning for the next event,” he said. “This event is six-plus months in the making given all the agencies involved.”
He mentioned airport staff respond to several events per year, but says those are much smaller events compared to the one they practised Tuesday.
After the event, all parties involved will make notes and observations to make sure their plan matches everyone’s expectations.
