Mock disaster almost a success

As disasters go, we are pretty lucky in our quiet corner of the world by the banks of the Penobscot.

We have had our share of bad news, to be sure. There have been multiple murders, multiple deaths in automobile accidents, floods and loss of property, and our share of bad fires of late. Fortunately, though, we have not had to contend with a “disaster”– the kind that might cause 10s or 100s of deaths at one time.

Would medical assistance be available to handle all of those injured? Would there be ambulances enough to take the injured to hospitals? Are enough doctors and medical personnel available on short notice to respond to the scene? Would anybody be told about it if there were a disaster?

The answer to most of those questions is a qualified “yes.” That is based on the reactions of area emergency directors in the wake of Saturday’s “mock disaster” at Bangor International Airport. That staged event, which is required of major airports to test their emergency response, was considered by emergency responders and airport officials to be a success. There were a few glitches, to be sure, but for the most part all went well from their point of view.

From my point of view, organizers could have taken the word “mock” from the day’s events.

Two types of reporters were on the scene. There were representatives from radio, television and newspaper who were supposed to be “invisible” to the responders. These “invisible” reporters were to cover the event to let people know that a mock disaster happened and what it involved. Through a series of miscommunications, some of those so-called “invisible” reporters nearly wound up in jail because security forces would not recognize credentials.

Then there were legitimate reporters who were trying to work with organizers to respond to the call of a disaster as if it were the real thing. As required by airport guidelines, a media staging area was set up and the media were to be escorted to the accident scene, provided information about what was happening, and kept informed about developing details so the public would know what was happening.

Reporters who reported to the airport were rounded up, corralled into a media pen and after an hour herded onto a bus where a military information officer was stationed. Eventually, the bus was driven out to the runway and to within 2,000 feet of the accident scene — well out of camera range, well out of the way. And that’s where the media were left.

Do you want to know what you would have been told by the “official sources” at Bangor International Airport and by the Air National Guard? After 2 1/2 hours, you, the public, would have known that there was a Maine Air National Guard KC-135 with 25 people aboard on a training mission. The plane experienced “some problem” and was attempting to return to the airport to land when it lost control and crashed into an Ajax International 727 with 171 passengers and crew aboard. There was a fire and two explosions, and seven area towns and cities sent rescue and fire equipment to the airport. Ajax was on a flight from the Caribbean to England and had stopped at Bangor to refuel. It had not cleared customs. There were multiple casualties and there were survivors. The crash happened at the north end of Runway 15. That’s it.

Do you suppose anybody would have been interested in knowing who the survivors were? How about why you couldn’t have driven on some of your local streets and highways while the injured were being taken to hospitals? Those people charged with protecting your country and its Constitution forgot that one of those rights is that of a free press. In the heat of a mock disaster, the rights of a free press got trampled.

What is going to happen in the event of a real disaster?

Jeff Strout is the NEWS city editor.