Fayetteville airport, firefighters stay ready should disaster strike with plane crash drill

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- Fayetteville Regional Airport and first responders in the Sandhills held an emergency drill Wednesday in case a devastating plane crash happens in the area.

The training only happens every three years--and it's coming just as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are working on reforms to make flying safer nationwide after a series of crashes.

"No one thinks that their plane is going to crash or something like that's going to happen," said firefighter Miguel Covarrubias of the Fayetteville Fire Department. "But for us, we can't afford just assuming that it's not going to happen. We have to prepare like it's going to happen."

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About 30 actors from local high schools and colleges played passengers in distress in the exercise mandated by the FAA.

"Training is where you are going to identify some issues and then you'll be able to correct those before we have a major incident here," said Battalion Chief of Fire Operations Lorenzo Hartwell of the Fayetteville Fire Department.

Officials say the airport leads the drill every three years. However, they noted that deadly plane crashes such as the midair collision in Washington D.C. underscore the importance of this year's exercise.

"We really do try to role play this into current events, especially those that have recently occurred here in the industry," said Fayetteville Regional Airport Director Andrew LaGala.

First responders in Fayetteville said seeing major flight disasters in other areas is challenging them to evolve their approach to rescuing people if an incident happens.

"We are going to do our job and we're going to do the best we can at it," Covarrubias said.