Story & Photos by Elston Hill
On Wednesday, July 12, a mock fuselage was placed on the north end of the runway at Sea-Tac Airport as part of an emergency exercise. The fuselage was part of a Boeing 757 brought over from Moses Lake for this activity.
This practice exercise is required every three years.
Prior to the exercise, volunteers – or “victims” – met in a hangar at the south end of the airport to be made up realistically for the event.
The exercise crash landing occurred at 10 a.m., and I was amazed at the large number of fire departments that participated in this exercise. Participants included fire departments from as far away as Mercer Island and Bellevue. And, of course, included the fire departments from Burien and SeaTac. Some “victims†were loaded into ambulances. Some “victims†were loaded into ambulances where their destination is determined by Harborview. We are fortunate to have such dedicated and well trained first responders.
Click images to see larger versions/slideshow:
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