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.<\/p>\n
Sirens sounded as boats moved through the water and divers went below the surface during the exercise.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Joel Woods, with Burke Lakefront, said making sure first responders can communicate with each other is the biggest test of the exercise.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis gives all our mutual aid responders the opportunity to not just work on our comms, our notifications, but understand our resources are coming from,\u201d Woods said.<\/p>\n
Multiple agencies respond together<\/p>\n
A scene like this brings together the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Coast Guard, Cleveland police and Cleveland fire all at once.<\/p>\n
Lieutenant Mike Norman with Cleveland Fire said it is vital that everyone is on the same page.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn incident of this size is instantly overwhelming, so you\u2019re trying to figure it out as you\u2019re going through it and the communication aspect is a big part of it,\u201d Norman said.<\/p>\n
Norman said the agencies use different radios and channels during a response.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re on different TAC channels, we\u2019re on different radio systems, so coordinating all of that, it\u2019s been a great exercise for those things,\u201d Norman said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce 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,\u201d Woods said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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