The Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority will be conducting a full-scale emergency preparedness drill at Fort Wayne International Airport (FWA) on Saturday, May 16, 2015 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The airport authority advises members of the public that emergency vehicles and other equipment will be staging a simulation of an aircraft accident and will not be associated with an actual emergency situation.

The airport authority’s public safety department developed a scenario of an aircraft landing short of one of FWA’s runways southeast of Airport Expressway and coming to a rest near the end of the runway. Two hundred volunteers will be on site acting as victims from the incident along with 200 staff members from over 30 agencies, including city and county fire, police, EMS, communications, and airport staff. All major Fort Wayne area emergency rooms will also be receiving “patients” from the incident.

Federal Aviation Administration regulations mandate airports to conduct full-scale emergency exercises every three years, along with annual tabletop exercises with all mutual aid agencies. The exercises test the effectiveness of response plans and procedures of the airport and federal, state, local, and community agencies.