Homeland Security

DATE=4/22/04

TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT

TITLE=AIRPORT DISASTER DRILL

NUMBER=5-55213

BYLINE=MIKE O'SULLIVAN

DATELINE=LOS ANGELES

INTERNET=YES

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: A disaster drill at Los Angeles International Airport captured some of the horror and confusion of a real-life runway air crash. Mike O'Sullivan reports, the drill is intended to promote coordination among rescuers in all types of emergencies.

TEXT: It has happened before at airports like this, and will certainly happen again. An aircraft collision or other disaster, such as a terrorist incident, demands a quick response from emergency workers.

In the drill, two airplanes are approaching on the runway. One is a landing passenger jet and the other a cargo plane about to take off.

The air traffic controller provides instructions to both.

/// CONTROLLER ///

(Male Controller to Passenger Plane): Runway 25 left. Clear to land.

(Pilot): Cleared to land, Transcontinental 49.

(Male Controller to Cargo Plane): Global Express 47, hold short of runway 25 right, departing traffic. Global Express 47, hold short of runway 25 right. Departing traffic. How do you hear? Global Express 47. Stop. Stop!

/// END ACT ///

The pilot of the cargo jet misunderstands the instructions. The planes collide, and the controller alerts other pilots to the disaster.

/// CONTROLLER ACT ///

Runway 25 right and Taxiway Gulf. A Boeing-7-4-7 and a D-C-10 aircraft impacted Terminal Seven. Terminal Seven is on fire.

/// END ACT ///

Emergency workers respond immediately, asking for help from the Los Angeles Police Department (L-A-P-D) and fire department hazardous materials teams, called HazMat, as well as Emergency Medical Services.

/// EMERGENCY WORKERS COMMUNICATIONS ///

Requesting L-A-P-D HazMat (hazardous materials team). Fire Department HazMat Task Force. Also E-M-S (Emergency Medical Services) resources for approximately 200 patients.

/// END ACT ///

Fire Captain Patrick Butler says this drill is realistic, involving scores of ambulances, police cars and helicopters, and more than 700 people. Nearly 300 are volunteers, who portray injured passengers or people hurt in the terminal.

/// BUTLER ACT ///

They may have injuries, burns, broken bones, and so we are going to begin a triage, treatment, and transport of these patients.

/// END ACT ///

The tarmac is secured, as rescuers reach the scene. Firefighters spray a flame-retardant chemical on the burning wreckage, and into the terminal and the aircraft.

Injured passengers on the runway are quickly assessed, says airport worker Nancy Castles.

/// CASTLES ACT ///

This is part of the fire department's triage, to be able to identify very quickly, within less than a minute, whether or not this person is dead or is in such critical condition that they need to be moved quickly.

/// END ACT ///

/// OPT /// Volunteers are made up with plaster and red paint, says Lisa Burke, a specialist in the art of creating mock wounds and injuries. Her company, Burke's Blood Bath, was named with a touch of humor, but she offers a serious service for disaster drills like this one. She says volunteer "patients" have what appear to be real injuries to prepare disaster workers for what they may encounter in an actual incident.

/// BURKE ACT and SFX ACT -- ///

A lot of lacerations, a lot of compound fractures, just a little bit of everything out there. We are going to have a lot of screamers (people crying out in pain) today.

/// END ACT - ends with shouting sounds ///

Nearby are people with light or moderate injuries. Some call out as they wait for treatment.

/// END OPT ///

Some volunteers are students, and others work at the airport. Dave Goldblum is a baggage consultant here.

/// GOLDBLUM ACT ///

I have got a head injury. I am in and out of unconsciousness. So, now I am conscious. (laughs)

/// END ACT ///

Inside the terminal, other volunteers play the roles of family members, who are frantically seeking news about their love ones. An airline worker tries to provide it.

/// AIRLINE WORKER ///

Get a pen and paper out. For information on the status of Flight 47 and information about anybody who might have been on that flight, call 1-800... (DROWNED OUT BY SHOUTING)

/// END ACT ///

/// OPT /// Battalion Chief Mike Reagan of the Los Angeles Fire Department says communication is crucial in an emergency, not only between the airline and worried family members, but also among emergency workers on the tarmac. He says that his department is the lead agency, so radio communications all take place on the same channels.

/// OPT REAGAN ACT ///

It is a lot easier to operate than it would be where some smaller cities that are sharing resources with other smaller cities, may not have the same radio channels. That is something the fire service is working on at the state level.

/// END ACT // END OPT ///

Commercial airports in the United States must conduct emergency drills every three years. Michael DiGirolamo (dee-je-RAHL-a-moh), who oversees security at several Los Angeles airports, says the exercises show what is wrong with the system, and what needs improvement.

/// DIGIROLAMO ACT ///

Why you have exercises is to find out things that do not work. And over the years through these exercises, we find out little glitches that we would have done something better. So you look for those little glitches, and you want to make sure that everything is working properly.

/// END ACT ///

Emergency workers were on the scene within three minute of this make-believe accident. Of course, they knew in advance it was coming, but airport officials say procedures are in place to ensure a quick response, if such a disaster should really happen. And just as after a real incident, a panel of experts will evaluate how the rescuers responded. (SIGNED)

NEB/MOS/TW/RAE