Disaster Exercise to be held Thursday at Mid-Continent Airport

October 18, 2011

Disaster Exercise to be held Thursday at Mid-Continent Airport

October 17, 2011

Contact: Chief Greg Martens, Airport Public Safety, 946-4747

Disaster Exercise to be held Thursday at Mid-Continent Airport

Every three years the Wichita Airport Authority conducts an FAA mandated full scale disaster exercise.  This year the exercise will begin at 9:00 a.m. Thursday.  The location of the exercise will be north of highway K42, east of the approach end of Runway 1L.  Any media wishing to cover the exercise are asked to call Kelly Fabrizius, assistant to the Airport Public Safety Chief, at 946-4744 by Wednesday.

The scenario for the exercise is as follows:  at approximately 9 a.m. a large commercial aircraft operated by Ancient Airlines, with a total of 78 passengers and crew onboard, collides with a small general aviation aircraft carrying three passengers.  The aircraft collide while the large commercial aircraft is taking off from Runway 1L.  Both aircraft break apart and come to rest approximately 2,000 feet away in a field east of the runway.  At 9:02 a.m. Wichita’s Air Traffic Control Tower notified the Airport Police and Fire Division of the crash.  The exercise begins.

Disasters of this scale are extremely rare and have never occurred at Mid-Continent Airport. However, federal regulations and good emergency management practices require that all commercial airports in the U.S. practice responding to these events in a simulated environment.

There will be about 300 people from 23 various agencies, departments, organizations and volunteers involved. 

 

Media Contacts   (316) 946-4700

Valerie Wise, Air Service & Marketing Manager

Jesse R. Romo, Director of Airports

Brad Christopher, Assistant Director of Airports

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