South Bend International Airport simulates plane crash drill

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The South Bend International Airport conducted a simulated plane crash on the airport's runway Thursday evening to prepare personnel for actual emergencies.

Countless people participated in the drill, treating the simulation as a real-life emergency to emulate a true reaction to an aircraft incident.

"So, we're doing a full-scale incident exercise for the airport this year. We're doing an aircraft incident. We bring together mutual aid. We bring together local hospitals, community members, volunteers, all to practice for a safe airport and practice an incident for whatever to happen," said Assistant Vice President of Operations and Maintenace Rich Von Eiderstein. "We want to be the most prepared we possibly can."

Firefighters and EMS were there following the emergency procedures to assist citizens that impersonated fake injuries and deaths.

"Yeah, so, the FAA kind of mandates that the airport does every three years." stated Eiderstein, "So, it's very important to us. We want to practice. We want to be as safe as possible, and in order to do that, we have to host these full-scale drills. It's very important we treat it with the highest level of respect integrity."