Hector International Airport hosted its triennial mock disaster exercise on Thursday evening to test the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved Airport Emergency Plan.

The scenario played out was that an aircraft declared an in-flight emergency (hijacking) and opted to return to the airport.  The aircraft attempted to land and crashed sliding into the eastern portion of the airport property.  The NDANG fire training simulator was utilized to create the realism of an actual crash.

The purpose of the exercise is to put into practice the airport emergency plan and test its effectiveness in the event of an aircraft accident on the airport. The exercise had approximately 100 volunteers that acted as crash victims. The plan tests all aspects of an accident from the initial fire department response of extinguishing fires and rescuing victims. Crash victims in the simulation were transported by either ambulance or helicopter to area hospitals.

In total, approximately 200 emergency personnel took part in this exercise. The North Dakota Air National Guard Fire Department and many other mutual aid agencies including; Fargo Fire and Police Department, FM Ambulance, West Fargo Fire Department, TSA, FBI, Salvation Army, American Red Cross, EVAC, MeritCare and Innovis Hospitals, Red River Amateur Radio, and the FAA Air Traffic Control Tower. The exercise began at 6:00 PM and concluded shortly before 9 PM.

The next full-scale exercise will be held in the spring of 2009.