An exercise in emergency recovery
There are no comments for this page [ Add Comment ]Wednesday, May 28, 2008
By Mitch Shaw
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau
FARMINGTON -- A plane crashing into the Wasatch Mountains in Farmington Canyon is not the most likely of scenarios, but it's also not entirely out of the realm of possibility.
On Dec. 19, 1977, a United Airlines DC-8 cargo jet carrying Christmas mail from California to Illinois crashed into that very mountain range near Fruit Heights, killing all three crewmen on board.
On Tuesday, 24 Top of Utah emergency response agencies conducted an aircraft-crash drill on the mountain. It was designed to prepare response teams for accidents similar to the one that occurred more than 30 years ago.
Response teams from Hill Air Force Base, Weber, Davis and Morgan counties, Life Flight and the Northern Utah Search and Rescue Team conducted two separate mock aircraft crashes -- one at Ogden-Hinckley Airport and one in Farmington Canyon.
Both scenarios involved military planes that crashed as a result of a mid-air collision.
In Farmington Canyon, officials simulated a C-130 cargo plane crash. The simulation included scattered aircraft debris and realistic rescue missions of actors playing victims.
A Life Flight helicopter airlifted victims out of the canyon, and emergency crews rappelled hundreds of feet down the steep mountainside to retrieve victims and bring them back up the mountain.
"The whole purpose of this exercise is to practice coordination," said Brent Peters, Davis County sheriff's emergency-management coordinator.
"We want to see how well we communicate and integrate all these different entities. That's why we try to make it as realistic as possible."
Peters said that, although this particular exercise involved a mock plane crash, it helps prepare crews to respond to any major catastrophe.
"You never know when something like the Crandall Canyon mine disaster is going to happen," he said. "Something like this gives us a chance to work together, so if resources are ever needed, everybody is ready."
The exercise was originally planned by officials at Hill Air Force Base for the 2008 air show.
Even though the show was officially nixed in January, crews still decided to take advantage of the opportunity for practice.
"With all of these different agencies involved, planning for something like this can be pretty difficult, so we decided to do it," said Master Sgt. Raymond Saunders.
"It's just a good way to make sure, if anything did happen, we are ready."
Farmington Fire Chief Larry Gregory served as an evaluator during the operation and said the exercise included a real element of danger -- which is exactly what makes it so valuable.
"That's why this is good training," he said.
"In a real rescue, you have an adrenaline rush that you won't experience anywhere else, so this kind of prepares you for that."
Emergency officials said they hope they never have to put their training to use in real situations like those simulated Tuesday.
"Obviously, you hope you never have to deal with anything like this," Peters said, "but that doesn't mean it can't happen."
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