Mock disaster at BIA planned for Saturday

Plumes of smoke rising from the west end of Bangor International Airport and ambulances shuttling between BIA and area hospitals Saturday morning will provide a lively few hours for the 550 people participating in a simulated disaster.

The scenario is this: A KC-135, a Maine Air National Guard tanker with 80,000 pounds of jet fuel, experiences trouble on takeoff and on its return landing crashes into a jet with 140 passengers aboard. Both aircrafts break apart and become engulfed in flames.

The airport will operate normally for all but the first 10 minutes of the drill, which starts at 8:45 a.m. At the start of the drill the Federal Aviation Administration plans to close the airport to give the simulation a chance to start rolling.

According to airport Manager Peter D’Errico, the airlines will maintain regularly scheduled service during the morning. Aside from police officers directing traffic around the airport, an abundance of emergency vehicles, and smoke at one end of the runway, it will be business as usual for the flying public.

Preparations for the disaster drill were coordinated by Steve Watson, director of emergency management for Penobscot County.

The drill will be the largest mock disaster ever conducted in the state, Watson said. A total of 125 victims and 425 rescue personnel from 42 agencies will participate in the drill that will last about five hours.

Preparations for the mock tragedy will begin at 7 a.m. when the participants will gather on an abandoned runway outside the perimeter to be made up as bloody victims with a plethora of injuries.

The drill will test the readiness of the members of the region’s emergency response network: the airport, hospitals, police and fire departments, the Maine National Guard, and local ambulance corps.

While the drill is intended to simulate a disaster, Bangor Police Chief Richard Stockford said that city crews will respond at normal speed, not high speed.

“We don’t anticipate any undue stress on the traffic system,” he said. “Outside the airport grounds, it shouldn’t be noticeable. There’ll be no lights, no sirens.”

Since the burning buses that will simulate the crashed planes will be within the fence, nothing will be visible beyond the perimeter, Stockford said. “I’d urge sightseers to stay home.”