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Operation SAFE:  Standiford Airfield Emergency

by Angela C. Townsend

“My mom is on that plane!”

A firefighter seized the frantic young woman by the arms and led her back to the grass alongside the runway.  Audrey was a victim of the disaster, removed from the wreckage and listed among the walking wounded.  Her parents had yet to be rescued, and their conditions remained unknown.

Another victim awaiting treatment expressed concern with other details.  “I want my lawyer!” he demanded.  “Do I get a refund?  Nobody told me the plane was going to crash!”

The tragedy occurred moments earlier as a group who had toured the Federal Express facility at Louisville International Airport boarded a bus to leave.  The driver became disoriented and drove the bus out onto a runway where it was struck by a Delta aircraft that was attempting to land.  The result was utter devastation: a bus filled with victims and smoke and a plane torn open upon impact with victims trapped inside and scattered across the runway.

Fortunately for all involved, the only reality to the disaster was the panorama of brilliant blue sky overlooking a flawless day.  The bus was not burning.  A machine generated the smoke rolling out its windows.  The victims and their family members were volunteers.  Even the Delta aircraft was actually a C-130 cargo plane on loan from the Kentucky Air National Guard. 

The incredible scenario of Saturday, September 21, 2002 came together under the heading of Operation SAFE.  “Kathy (Wade) and I have been working on this since April,” said Lt. Dave Case, Training Officer for the Regional Airport Authority of Louisville and Jefferson County.  He said the FAA mandates such a training exercise every three years, but the Regional Airport Authority (RAA) stages a mock disaster every two years.

The event began earlier that morning at the RAA Maintenance Facility on Park Boulevard.  Volunteers who would be role-playing victims and family members began arriving at 8:15 a.m. to sign in and receive ID badges.  Within an hour the building was filled with Salvation Army volunteers in red and white shirts, American Red Cross volunteers wearing Disaster Relief vests, RAA Fire and Rescue personnel and EMS personnel.  A ham radio operator mingled with soon-to-be victims in street clothes, and an airport police officer of the K9 Explosive Detection Team dropped by with his canine partner.  The American Red Cross provided an Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) from which they served doughnuts and beverages. 

Kathy Wade, Director of Airfield Operations Assistant for the Regional Airport Authority briefed the volunteers as to their assignments and told them what would take place during the simulation.  Four local hospitals were working in cooperation with the disaster relief efforts.  Caritas, Audubon, Southwest and Jewish would be receiving victims.  Because EMS personnel needed to remain available for real emergencies, not enough ambulances were on hand to accommodate the number of injuries the mock disaster would create.  Therefore, vans would also transport the volunteers to emergency rooms.

Each victim received a tag that listed the injuries sustained as well as blood pressure and heart rate.  Victims were identified as walking wounded, severely injured or deceased.  As they accepted their injury tags, the volunteers indicated whether or not they were willing to be transported to a hospital.  Family members were then paired with victims and instructed in their roles. 

“There is a phone number on the back of your injury tag,” Kathy told the volunteers.  “After you’ve been processed through the emergency room, call this number, and someone from the RAA will pick you up and bring you back here.  Be sure when you call to tell us not only your name, but which hospital you are at.”

Transit Authority of River City (TARC) busses provided transportation from the RAA Maintenance Facility to the Louisville International Airport.  The volunteers stepped off the bus onto the middle of a runway and filed to the ramp at the rear of the C-130.  Lt. Case provided final instructions and gave the volunteers leave to arrange themselves in the plane, along the ramp, or out on the runway as victims.  Fifteen victims boarded the school bus approximately fifty yards in front of the plane.  A machine promptly began billowing smoke through the bus and out the windows, simulating a fire.  Thus the mock disaster began.

The response was immediate.  Sirens shattered the grim silence that settled momentarily across the runway as the Regional Airport Authority Fire and Rescue arrived on scene to extinguish the fire that threatened the victims aboard the bus.  Firefighters undertook the massive effort of determining the severity of individual injuries and moving ambulatory victims away from the crash site.  Louisville Fire and Rescue arrived to assist.  Ambulances transported victims to hospitals.  The American Red Cross and the Salvation Army set up canteens at the site to provide food and beverages to emergency workers and survivors.

Cargo from the plane had spilled out among the victims, and it was suspected that some of the boxes contained explosives.  Two officers from the Louisville International Airport K9 Explosive Detection Team arrived with their German shepherd partners to investigate. 

A male victim refused to leave his wife until emergency workers could move her, too.  A woman with a head injury became combative as EMS personnel attempted to treat her.  Others, like Debbie Irwin, were careful not to move at all.  Debbie is a volunteer with the Jefferson County Police Department and a school counselor.  Her life as a victim concluded on the Tarmac behind the plane.

Audrey Case, daughter of Lt. Dave Case, said she was acquainted with the firefighters, and that made her role easier to carry out.  Soon after her desperate attempt to return to the plane and find her mother, firefighters reunited Audrey with the couple who were portraying her parents for the day. 

By 11:30 a.m. the victims had all been treated and released at the scene or transported to a hospital or to the Jefferson County Coroner’s office.  TARC busses and vans carried the volunteers who remained at the site back to the RAA Maintenance Facility, where the American Red Cross provided box lunches from the ERV. 

The simulation was a success.  Lt. Case said there were aspects he wasn’t entirely happy with, but “this is a training exercise.  It is supposed to show deficiencies and areas that we need to work harder on.”  He said that overall, he was pleased with the simulation.  “Participation from all the agencies is outstanding.”

Along with the Regional Airport Authority of Louisville and Jefferson County, the agencies that made Operation SAFE a success included the RAA Fire and Rescue, Louisville Fire and Rescue, Louisville International Airport K9 Explosive Detection Team, Caritas, Audubon, Southwest and Jewish Hospitals, Jefferson County EMS, Yellow Ambulance, Mercy Ambulance, Rural/Metro Ambulance, Jefferson County Coroner’s Office, American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Kentucky Division of Emergency Management, Federal Express, Delta Airlines, and Kentucky Air National Guard.  Seventy-five volunteers participated as victims and family members.  Operation SAFE was planned and organized by Lt. Dave Case and Kathy Wade.

The teamwork was exceptional as myriad factions came together to rescue victims, care for the wounded and save lives.  Lt. Dave Case and Kathy Wade of the Regional Airport Authority created an extraordinary training drill in the form of a simulation that effectively portrayed a real catastrophe.  The response by emergency services personnel to Operation SAFE is proof that they are prepared to meet the challenges that would arise in the event of an actual disaster.

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Updated 11 04 2010