Full-scale drill planned at airport

Law enforcement agencies and emergency first responders plan a full-scale airport exercise Sunday, Oct. 14, from 7 a.m. until 11:30 a.m., at McCook Regional Airport.

The drill will simulate terrorists' attempts to take over the airport and an airplane, said Bud Keenportz, coordinator and director of the drill for Red Willow County Emergency Management.

While the scenario will look real, Keenportz said, he wants the public -- on the ground and those who may be flying over the airport -- to know ahead of time that it is a drill and no one is in real danger.

McCook Police Chief Ike Brown said the drill will involve a real airplane that flies regularly into the McCook airport. He said, "It will look like something really bad is going on. That's how we're playing it."

During the drill, ground access to the McCook airport will be blocked. There are no commercial flights planned at that time, Brown said, although private planes will be allowed in and out.

Fire trucks, ambulances, law enforcement vehicles and other emergency transportation will be located on or near the airport, he said.

Dianna Wilkinson, co-director of the county's Emergency Management, said Community Hospital of McCook will be involved, using the drill as one of its required annual exercises. "Victims" from the airport disaster will be transported to the hospital, she said.

Keenportz said that the U.S. Transportation Safety Administration requires full-scale exercises at all American passenger airports once every three years.

Planning for the drill started in June, Keenportz said, and has required hours and hours to coordinate the involvement of "the players": McCook City Police, McCook City Fire and Rescue, Red Willow County Sheriff's Department, Red Willow County Emergency Management, Community Hospital of McCook, Nebraska State Patrol and its SWAT Team and bomb squad, Nebraska Emergency Management Agency, Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department, Red Willow Western Rural Fire Department and its hazmat team, the Nebraska Department of Corrections Work Ethic Camp in McCook and the TSA.

Brown said he is excited about the opportunity to practice on the intensive, detailed scenario that Keenportz has written. The drill will test every aspect of every agency's emergency response, he said.

Brown said that, as he travels throughout the state, he is often reminded of the excellent cooperation among agencies in Southwest Nebraska.

"We're small enough, in numbers, that we have to work together to respond well to emergencies," Brown said.

Each agency is funding its own involvement in the exercise, Wilkinson said.