Practice plane crash prepares emergency responders for worst

WICHITA, Kansas – The wounded littered a field outside Haysville after a mock plane crash Wednesday. Emergency crews scrambled to learn skills that could save lives if such a scenario were real.

For the most part Campus and Derby High School students played the victims. Their portrayals gave responders from several area agencies a very realistic picture of what a real plane crash scene would look like.

The call of the simulated crash went out just after 10:30 a.m. Students from Campus and Derby High Schools were strewn over a ball field. They played the role of passengers in the crash of a KC-135 tanker from McConnell – the same kind of plane that actually went down in Wichita decades ago, killing 30 people.

In the drill, McConnell airmen were involved, acting as the crew.

Within just a few minutes of the call, responders representing Wichita, Sedgwick County, Haysville and McConnell Air Force Base arrived on the practice scene ready to tend to victims.

"It gets the adrenaline going, it gets the guys into a real-life scenario,” said Lt. Jeff Whitfield with the Haysville Police Department. “Instead of just talking about it and doing table top exercises, it actually gets some blood pumping, and gets them excited."

Although realizing the seriousness of the exercise, the students were also eager to participate and make it as real to life as possible.

"With the screaming, and people tearing up, any time anybody see tears, they know that something is wrong,” said Devyn Gourley, drill participant.

On this day, thankfully, nothing was really wrong. In fact, organizers say everything went right in the drill, providing the first responders with a successful and cohesive yearly practice.

The agencies that participated get together throughout the year and have strategy sessions in preparation for the massive yearly drill.