Watch CBS News

Drill Keeps SFO First Responders On Their Toes

Members of federal agencies and local first responders rushed to the San Francisco Airport Wednesday morning on reports of an airliner with a fire in the cargo hold. But as KCBS' Bob Melrose reports, it was all part of a drill.

KCBS Bob Melrose Reports:

SFO's Emergency Operation Center did a table-top exercise Wednesday to get the team ready to deal with any emergency that's thrown their way.

In this scenario a plane arrived from Barcelona with a blaze in the cargo area, and was sent to an isolated part of the airport so that injured passengers could be offloaded. Nancy Parker, the airports emergency operations coordinator says that it is a test to see how well all of the pieces work together.

"All of the departments of the airport are engaged," said Parker. "We have our various agencies such as the F.B.I. the Federal Air Marshals, the Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, so that we can share information and coordinate on plans to move ahead on how we treat this particular incident."

Every three years the airport conducts a major drill using a real plane.

(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.