Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
Just after 6 p.m. Thursday, a mock scenario was staged at the DuPage Airport involving a passenger airliner making an emergency landing at night. Crews responded to the scene to extinguish flames from a burning fuselage, as well as triage people acting as injured passengers and take them to Central DuPage Hospital. Crews had been practicing all week and Thursday’s exercise was the culmination of the training.
Shortly after 6:15 p.m., flames appeared from a propane-filled fuselage and emergency vehicles appeared from south and west of the runway, heading toward the northeast end of the airport to the staging area. Airport staff said firefighters were not told the location beforehand in order to make accessing the site as realistic as possible.
Firefighters from Addison, Bartlett, Batavia, Bloomingdale, Carol Stream, Geneva, Glenside, Hanover Park, Naperville, Roselle, St. Charles, Warrenville, Wheaton, and Winfield participated. Officials from the Aurora Airport and several other federal and local agencies also were involved.
The DuPage Airport is the third busiest in the state. The airport is a strategic site because it offers the longest runway after O’Hare.
