MORGANTOWN — It’s a beautiful fall morning and an excited crowd is gathered at the Morgantown Municipal Airport for the kickoff of another Balloons Over Morgantown weekend.
But as the spectators count down to launch, a catastrophe is speeding their way.
A C-130 Hercules loaded with hydrazine is in trouble over the West Virginia countryside. The large military transport has already lost two engines. It must land now.
Moments later, a collapsed landing gear turns an emergency landing into a crash landing. The now-panicked crowd is peppered with debris and sprayed with fuel and the on-board chemicals.
That scenario was the starting point for a large-scale emergency exercise conducted Friday morning at the Morgantown Municipal Airport.
Airport personnel worked hand-in-hand at the scene with the Morgantown Fire Department and the Morgantown-based U.S. Army 300th CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) Company — all with the support of the Morgantown Police and Public Works departments, MECCA 911, Mon EMS, Mountain Line and both hospital systems.
“We’ll have medical personnel who will perform triage. Because of the chemical, we’ll end up having to do decontamination, treat everybody and transport those who need extra help to the hospital,” Airport Director Jonathan Vrabel explained.
But you can’t practice a mass casualty event without casualties.
Spencer Bebout and Celina Liang were among those portraying the walking wounded. Both volunteered through WVU Medicine.
Liang, an emergency management intern, said the experience provided an opportunity to experience an emergency medical event from the patient perspective.
Bebout struggled with motivation while he awaited his theatrical debut.
“I guess glass shards and jet fuel went all over me,” he said, agitated at the stickiness of his pretend wounds. “I think it’s been pretty fun, but the moulage, I feel like it’s a little extreme.”
All told, as many as 200 people, and a truckload of mannequins, were involved in Friday’s mock disaster.
The airport is federally required to conduct such practice at least every three years. The scenario is always different.
In April 2021, kitted-out teams from the Morgantown Police Department scoured the grounds for active shooters while a fire training simulator burned near the runway.
“It’s different every time. This is actually only year two for us, but because we had this request from the U.S. Army, we decided to hold it a year early,” Vrabel said. “Typically, they’re a national resource and it would take 72 hours to pull them in, usually after local resources have been tapped. But because they have a local unit here the commander is able to respond immediately. That’s what’s happening here today.”
