How Airports Prepare for the Worst
Airports have to be prepared for the worst, 24/7/365. Big or small, regional or international, an accident can happen anywhere at any time. It’s unlikely a major incident will happen at any given location, but it’s not outside the realm of possibility, and something they need to be ready for.
If a major incident were to happen, it will be chaotic. No matter how much you practice, it won’t all go perfectly like it did in training. A response involves potentially hundreds of people from dozens of agencies and organizations, and communication is key - lives may hang in the balance.
Though it differs from airport to airport, generally the chain of command looking like this:
FEMA
An incident commander might be someone on staff who plans for emergencies full time, or, at smaller airports, a director of operations or fire chief.
In short, anything possible is planned for ahead of time. Just some of those things include:
Triage: Injured victims need to be trained (to determine how dire their situation) rapidly. Often, this entails setting up colored tents to organize quickly
Security: Even in the event of a crash, airports still need to remain as secure as possible. This means making sure only those who are authorized to be there are there, and that the emergency responders from outside the airport grounds only stay where they’re needed.
Weather: An emergency can happen on a nice, sunny day, or in the middle of a thunderstorm or blizzard. In any eventuality, the response needs to be just as robust
Airport-spesific conditions: Every airport is unique, and so its plan needs to be tailored to its needs. For example, costal airports or airports with lots of water nearby need to be prepared for an emergency in the water.
Media: When something big happens, the media will come en masse. Depending on the situation, it could just be a few reporters from the area, or a major response entailing hundreds of people, from producers to reporters and camera people. Their reporting is absolutely critical in getting accurate information out to the public, so they need to be close enough to the action to get that information across, but not interfering. This is easier said than done - major news network’s reporting teams can be made up of many people, and they need a lot of space to set up and broadcast.
Morgue: While morbid, if the worst happens, there could potentially be hundreds of bodies. Most medical examiner’s don’t have even close to the infrastructure to transport all of them to the mortuary, so in most cases, a temporary setup will be erected on site.
When you think of an emergency at an airport, what jumps to your mind is likely a plane crash. And while that’s not outside the realm of possibility, it’s certainly not the most common thing, statistically thinking. There are many other emergent things that can arise at an airport, requiring varying levels of response:
Security Crisis: If an airport is feared to have been breached in some way (IE: someone unauthorized entered the terminal or airport grounds), a whole different chain of action is set off, involving a massive amount of coordination with air traffic control, airlines, and other operational staff.
Attack: In the event of some sort of attack (like a shooting or a bombing), potentially hundreds of people could be in need of immediate car. On top of that, just because the initial crisis is over, it doesn’t mean there couldn’t be more (like a second wave of attacks), so there’s the added component of a pressing, possibly unknown threat that needs to be mitigated. A notable example of this was the 2016 suicide bombing attack at the Brussels Airport.
Fire: The bulk of the firefighting that an airport fire department does is not on aircraft, it’s on non-aviation things. For example, some airport fire departments have coverage over the general airport region, which encompasses parking garages, hotels, train stations, and any other miscellaneous infrastructure. Plans need to be put in place for how those sorts of situations are going to be managed. A notable example is when a large fire in 2020 at the Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) broke out and destroyed upwards of 4000 cars.
Airports are part of a much larger ecosystem of infrastructure. During a crisis, the airport level response is only one chunk of a response. In the event of an emergency, agencies and resources local, state, and federal level will be deployed, including:
Hospitals: If there are any injuries, especially in the event of a large incident, local hospitals will put into place their well rehearsed mass casualty incident protocols to deal with the potential for a massive influx of patients needing immediate medical care
Law Enforcement: In any emergency, local law enforcement in conjunction with an airport police force (if applicable) can help keep the peace and maintain a secure perimeter. In the event of an attack type situation, law enforcement becomes much more involved in stopping the threat and the ensuing investigations. If there’s a crash where foul play is suspected, authorities at the federal level like NSA and FBI will be deployed to aid in the investigation
State/Local Emergency Management Agencies: Larger cities and states have designated emergency management agencies, who can give logistical and financial support rapidly in the case of an emergency…
Other Fire Departments: Other fire departments can be called in as mutual aid for the airport fire department if needed, to provide logistical or sheer manpower support. This is especially true when there’s a lot of casualties suspected, as fire departments can very quickly render medical aid.
Airlines: In the case of a crash, the airline(s) affected will become immediately heavily involved. They will send response teams to the scene to provide communications and PR support, as well as, in some situations, support for victims/next of kin.
National Guard: In situations at a large scale, the National Guard can be brought in for additional manpower.
Every airport has complex emergency protocols that are reviewed by specialized teams every so often. These emergency protocols are practiced periodically, and it’s not like in a nice conference room over coffee and donuts.
The practices are massive efforts, involving all stakeholders (law enforcement, fire fighting teams, operations teams, hospitals, ambulance companies, etc.). Oftentimes, dozens or even hundreds of crisis actors will be brought in to simulate real victims. Some airports have decommissioned airliners sitting that will literally be lit on fire without notice so the fire crews can practice various techniques of firefighting. You can watch a good example of an emergency training taking place in Seattle here:
United States Department of Transportation
Appleton Airport
FEMA
Emergency Medical Services Authority
State of Massachusetts
Flagstaff - Pulliam Airport
City of Phoenix
Federal Aviation Administration
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio