CPA gets A+ grade on disaster preparedness

The Federal Aviation Administration gave the Commonwealth Ports Authority and its partner agencies an A+ for their “disaster” response to a staged plane crash yesterday at the Saipan International Airport.

“The grade is A+. It means that we did what we are supposed to do during a disaster. We thank every agency involved in the drill. We did great,” said CPA acting executive director Regino Celis.

CPA aircraft rescue and Firefighting chief Stanley Torres said, “We did pretty well because all agencies responded well.”

“An A+ grade is pretty good but it doesn’t mean we stop there. We still have things to work on but overall, we did pretty well. There’s some problems but we managed to overcome them,” said Torres.

Torres said that, as predicted, problems encountered had to do with communications during the disaster drill—rescuing and transporting victims for treatment to the hospital.

“It [communication] is a common problem. We had some problems but we fixed it right away. Everybody had a backup plan,” said Torres.

Eight certified ARFF personnel and about 10 personnel from the Department of Public Safety recovered “bodies” and rescued about 40 “survivors,” played out in the drill by JROTC students from the Public School System.

The scenario involved an inbound Boeing 767, Pacific Sky Air flight 900, with hydraulic problems. The captain declared an aircraft emergency, which is an alert level II.

Upon touchdown, the aircraft explodes into flames and split into two large pieces before coming to rest at “approximately 1,000 feet from the edge of the runway pavement.”

Saipan airport then activated the ARFF hotline and gave emergency information to all CNMI emergency response agencies—Public Health, DPS, Emergency Management Office, the American Red Cross, and airline companies.

The actual drill showed only the firefighters putting out the fire at a makeshift aircraft located in a vacant space adjacent to the airport runway.

In the scenario, there are over 100 passengers killed; several others are wounded and are crawling and walking around the crash site.

“We thank the JROTC students who volunteered to act as injured victims,” said Torres.

Under the FAA regulations, CPA is required to conduct a major disaster drill every three years. Small-scale exercises are also held anytime of the year.

Visiting FAA inspector Mack Humprey said the local team’s response efforts were “very commendable.”

“They’ve got a sense of urgency. They are running. Their efforts are very commendable,” said Humprey.

He said the personnel also finished their operations “at appropriate times.”

The drill began at about 9am. The airport rescue team finished the work, including the transport of injured persons to the hospital, at 10:30am.