North Central West Virginia Airport personnel joined forces with area first responders on Tuesday to show what can be accomplished with teamwork in a situation that none involved hope ever actually happens.

 

The airport was the site for a emergency response exercise that involved a crash, a fire and a hostage situation.

 

“It’s important for us to have an event like this,” NCWV Airport Operations Supervisor Ron Cochran said. “To train, make sure everyone is on the same page. The biggest thing is safety and training for us. I feel like it went well for us.”

 

The Bridgeport City Police, Bridgeport Fire Department, State Police, FBI, Harrison County EMS and the National Guard were all on hand.

The event scenario featured a Cessna Citation with six passengers and two pilots onboard involved in the crash with a Cessna Skyhawk with two pilots onboard.

 

The pilots of the Skyhawk were the hijackers and after a confrontation with a firefighter boarded a CRJ 200-Regional Jet with 15 passengers and three crew members on board who became the hostages.

 

With a situation this complex and involving that many agencies, communication is of utmost importance.

 

“It’s important to the airport and it’s mandated that they have these exercises,” Bridgeport Police Chief John Walker said. “It’s good for us because we get to interact with other agencies including emergency services and the fire department.

 

“There’s never an event like this that is not successful because worst case scenario is we learn. Every time we learn how to do it better. A lot of times at these events that will be an issue, communications break down, so we learn to know what to look for the next time and be prepared.”

 

Stay tuned to Connect-Bridgeport for an extensive photo gallery of the training exercise.