Preparing for the worst

Dyersburg emergency response personnel have been preparing to stage a mock airplane crash at the municipal airport for the last six weeks, and during that time period, two near-catastrophic events occurred there.

In one, the wheel of a single-engine plane collapsed upon landing, sending it spinning off the runway. In another, a twin-engine craft had to make an emergency landing when one of its motors suffered mechanical problems. While no injuries occurred in either of those incidents, they underscored the importance of fire, police and emergency medical personnel being prepared for the worst. The mock disaster Monday night simulated the crash of a commuter passenger plane that included 15 fatalities and injuries varying from severe burns to broken bones and head trauma. The victims were played by students from the Drama Club and Peer Mediation group of Dyersburg High School. Police, fire and emergency medical personnel, including a medivac helicopter brought in from Jackson, responded in as close a manner as they could if the conditions had been real. Fires were squelched. A partial airplane body was actually cut apart to reach survivors inside; and the injured were even transported to the local hospital as they would have been had an actual airplane crash occurred.

"We try to conduct these drills once a quarter," said Farris Cagle, Battalion Chief with the Dyersburg Fire Department, who was in charge of the drill's command center. "These are things we have to get used to. We have to try and make them as realistic as possible in order to be prepared in the event a real disaster occurs."

Tommy Gibbons, director of emergency services for Dyersburg, said the drill had been a citywide effort. He especially thanked the Dyersburg Municipal Airport management, whom he said were instrumental in organizing the drill.