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In the midst of weekend rain storms, hundreds of first responders train for airport emergency

Colleen Probst

Emergency crews from across Western New York were called to respond to a plane sliding off the runway at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport during Saturday night’s rain storms. The good news – it was all part of a drill.

Fire companies, police agencies, EMS units, and a plane full of actors were part of an elaborate training exercise, coordinated by BNIA staff.

“We wanted to be able to test all the different functions that will work during an emergency, and we were able to accomplish that,” said Airport Fire Department Assistant Chief William Major.

Credit Colleen Probst
Firefighters surround the Buffalo Niagara International Airport's training aircraft, which was donated by FedEx four years ago. A training exercise on Saturday simulated the jet sliding off the runway during landing and crashing into a runway sweeper.

The drill simulated a passenger jet sliding off the runway during landing, striking a piece of heavy equipment used to sweep the runway of snow and debris, and injuring some of the 80 passenger onboard.

The event is required by the Federal Aviation Administration every three years and, in the years between, airport personnel work with first responders to review, plan, and prepare for the next exercise. Over the past nine years, the event has expanses in size and scope.

“We’ve increased our number of actors that we were able to use,” said Major. “Four years ago, FedEx donated an aircraft to us, to the fire department, slash, the airport, and we use it on a daily basis for training. We’re able to make the exercise more realistic by having an actual aircraft the people can be in.”

Credit Colleen Probst
Airport Fire Department Assistant Chief William Major briefs a group of participants in Saturday's training exercise at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport.

Major also pointed out that this year’s exercise included personnel and places not normally involved. Terminal staff responsible for dealing with the public had to handle 30 actors playing friends and family of passengers, and 25 people were sent to Erie County Medical Center to test the hospital’s response in the event of an airport emergency.

For fire department personnel, the key takeaway was incorporating outside agencies and equipment, without limiting their ability to respond to simultaneous emergencies in their own communities.

“That was a big test for us to be able to see that,” said Major. “We tested our staging area where we locate all that equipment, and we took away from that as well.”

Altogether, nearly 360 people were involved in the exercise, all while the airport continued to operate at full capacity.

“We still have to provide coverage for that, so we had to take that into account,” said Major. “We had standby units from Williamsville and the Niagara Falls Air Base at the firehouse, along with a crew standing by in case we did have a real-world emergency.”

Major said a real-world emergency was nearly the case, when he received a call during the training that an aircraft would be diverting to Buffalo with passengers injured during turbulence. The aircraft ended up rerouting to another location, but Major said his crews were ready to respond.

Credit Brian Powers
Emergency responders on the runway during Saturday's FAA-required training exercise.

From preparation to completion, the training lasted nearly six hours, including a delay brought on by the evening’s heavy rain storms. Major said the weather provided an extra touch of reality to the training, which he called an overall success.

“When you have an actual event that you can practice, there’s no wrong outcome if you can learn from it,” said Major. “It was a tremendous experience.”

Avery began his broadcasting career as a disc jockey for WRUB, the University at Buffalo’s student-run radio station.