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GREENSBORO — A simulated terrorist attack aboard a jet at Piedmont Triad International Airport on Friday helped fine-tune emergency plans and gave dozens of agencies valuable training on working together.

The emergency drill — one of many required every three years by the Federal Aviation Administration — involved a hijacker who took control of a Delta Connections CRJ jet and forced a landing at PTI.

The drill started as if air traffic controllers received a distress radio call from the pilot while the plane was inbound.

Officials initially learned the plane was hijacked with 53 passengers on board and was being forced to land with 60,000 gallons of fuel.

Radio dispatches went out to dozens of emergency agencies to respond to the scene. An airport spokeswoman’s cell phone lit up with mock calls from the media seeking details.

The plane landed and stopped at an isolated part of the runway. Police set up a perimeter around the jet and attempted to speak to the pilot who, in this scenario, was being held at gunpoint by the hijacker. The hijacker wanted to speak to the FBI, and time was running out.

“The pilot is reporting injuries on board the plane and fatalities,” blared radio traffic from the scene.

 Pyrotechnics boomed from the plane — the hijacker “killed” two hostages.

That was followed by about 20 passengers — played by students from GTCC — escaping from the plane after being let go by the hijacker.

The passengers were taken by police at gunpoint — a safety measure to ensure none were involved with the plan and that the hijacker hadn’t planted any weapons or explosives on them.

As other emergency officials arrived, the hijacker blew himself up inside the plane, causing a simulated plane explosion.
The Guilford County Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team — equipped in tactical gear — cleared the wreckage, and fire officials moved in to remove patients and treat their injuries.

Passengers came out covered in fake blood and gore.

Guilford County Emergency Services responded with numerous ambulances, its mobile hospital and other equipment.
Area hospitals were also involved in the scenario to tune their response for a mass tragedy.

In all, six people were reported to have been “killed” and numerous others injured.

“We do these things for two reasons — first of all to learn and prepare for what could happen in the future,” said Alton Wood, chief of the PTI Fire Department.

“We test different scenarios for our emergency plan and we are pretty well prepared to do what we need to do.”

Ted Johnson, executive director of the PTI Airport Authority, said evaluators were on scene to critique the response to the incident. Officials will hold a meeting next week to review the scenario and find ways to improve.

“None of these things are perfect. You are always learning and trying to improve,” Johnson said. “We want to be very well trained on how to respond — we hope we’ll never have to use it.”

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com