CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – Cleveland fire, police and rescue crews trained Wednesday for a scenario simulating a plane down in Lake Erie near Burke Lakefront Airport.
Sirens sounded as boats moved through the water and divers went below the surface during the exercise.
Because Burke Lakefront Airport sits on the lake, the FAA requires it to have a detailed water rescue plan. Crews test that plan every three years.
Joel Woods, with Burke Lakefront, said making sure first responders can communicate with each other is the biggest test of the exercise.
“This gives all our mutual aid responders the opportunity to not just work on our comms, our notifications, but understand our resources are coming from,” Woods said.
Multiple agencies respond together
A scene like this brings together the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Coast Guard, Cleveland police and Cleveland fire all at once.
Lieutenant Mike Norman with Cleveland Fire said it is vital that everyone is on the same page.
“An incident of this size is instantly overwhelming, so you’re trying to figure it out as you’re going through it and the communication aspect is a big part of it,” Norman said.
Norman said the agencies use different radios and channels during a response.
“We’re on different TAC channels, we’re on different radio systems, so coordinating all of that, it’s been a great exercise for those things,” Norman said.
In December 2016, crews responded to a deadly crash at Burke Lakefront Airport. A plane headed to Columbus crashed into the lake, killing all six people on board.
Woods said every drill like this prepares first responders for a scenario like that. He said crews have built on the exercise since it first started years ago.
“Once we decided that we were going to put this together and we knew exactly what we were trying to achieve, everyone came together, the participation has been awesome,” Woods said.
Organizers said they hope the plan is never put to a real test but said everyone will be on the same page if it happens.
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