TYLER, Texas — Every three years the Federal Aviation Administration requires a full-scale exercise, and in this airplane emergency simulation, the bus is taking place as a commercial plane at the Tyler Pounds Regional Airport on Thursday.
When seconds matter—it’s important to be prepared. Within almost a minute, first responders were on scene of the emergency drill at the Tyler airport.
Officials noted the biggest priority is communication between all entities.
"It give us a chance to really at full speed run through all those plans and procedures that we have written down and really put them to the test," Stephen Thompson, airport director said.
In this simulation, 49 UT Tyler students participated as passengers on the plane with the area contaminated with simulated jet fuel.
"First thing they did was try to extinguish the fire because there was fire simulated on the flight. And then I start trying to gather information on who and what, you know, condition to people triage situation," Fire Chief David Admire said.
Admire said every time they participate in these drills, he sees an improvement in communication on every front.
"This kind of shows off the training, we go through and do. That way we're prepared for a real incident when real emotions are involved and real lives are at stake," Admire said.
Airport director Stephen Thompson said the airport staff was able to effectively communicate issues to the control tower to activate the emergency response.
"When it came time to execute, the airport staff was there and they really made this happen. It's so important that when something like this happens, you've got a great command structure, you have command and control this exercise by one of our first responders," Thompson said.
Although the drill went smoothly, Thompson said there is always room for improvement in the future.