Police, fire and other first responders participated in a training drill Friday and Saturday at Newton Airport to learn what to do should a helicopter crash or have an emergency landing in the area.
Led by the Army National Guard out of Meridian, the training drill tested the limits of first responders’ response time, victim stabilization and aircraft knowledge, giving them a hands-on look at what to do should the worst occur.
Chief Warrant Officer Jesse Green, who commands operations at the Meridian training field, said the Army National Guard has seven helicopters stationed there. While routine maintenance is carefully performed, he said the event of a crash or emergency landing is not a long shot.
“I’m sure you guys around here, you’ve seen us up in the air flying around, so there’s the potential for something like this to happen as a real-life event,” he said.
No one wants an emergency situation, but Newton County’s first responders showed themselves well up to the task should such an event occur, Green said. On the first run of the training session, he said he saw no mistakes or unsafe practices from the trainees. The response time was good, the engines were shut down safely and the military personnel acting as victims were tending to promptly.
Green said he was pleased by what he saw but warned not to let training success lead to unpreparedness.
“It was ideal conditions today,” he said. “The weather is good, there’s no other traffic or aircraft, no planes you guys had to work around. One thing to take away is you guys may come up here, and this whole ramp could be full of fixed wing, or it could be in a field somewhere, and you have to get to it.”
Training in the sunshine on an empty runway is about the best conditions to hope for, Green said. However, with large rural areas, the chances of an aircraft crashing in an easily accessible area in good weather are not good.
“You guys are trained to operate and respond to different kinds of scenarios,” he said. “So, just keep that in your mind. It might not be on a pretty day on a clear runway.”
Another note, Green added, is that the Chinook helicopters used at the Meridian field can carry up a maximum load of 32 passengers and four crew members. While two soldiers were tapped to play the victims in the training scenarios, he said there could be many more.
Brian Taylor, EMA director for Newton County, said he thought the first responders did a good job as well. However, he said, only a few people in the area have been trained in how to shut down an aircraft safely. Teaching more of the county’s first responders to turn off the engines would increase the chances of getting any landing site secured and safe much faster.
“Before every leaves today, I want to make sure everybody knows how to shut down the aircraft properly,” he said.
Green said he makes it a priority to work with local emergency personnel to share information and training in the event something should happen. He said any and all of the first responders participating in the 2-day session were welcome to come to Meridian for additional training whenever they’d like.
