Governor Josh Green, M.D.

Nearly 100 public school students along with airline personnel, Maui County’s Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and mutual aid partners joined the Hawai‘i Department of Transportation in a triennial emergency exercise at Kahului Airport (OGG) on Sept. 20.

Public school students watch and listen to a firefighter at the drill. Photo courtesy: HDOT.

The drill simulated the OGG Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF) unit’s response to a fire on an inbound Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft. United Airlines donated the use of one of its planes for the exercise. During the drill, airport firefighters responded to the craft from their quarters. Upon arrival the rescue crew conducted checks aboard the plane and retrieved inflatable manikins from the inside and carried them onto the tarmac for triage. Maui County firefighters also arrived to assist ARFF, and American Medical Response sent ambulances and personnel. Students from Maui High School and Baldwin High School played the roles of passengers, gathering on the tarmac, with first responders tending aid to those who were “injured.”

At the terminal, OGG security and operations personnel, MEMA staff, airline officials and visitor industry partners monitored the drill from a mock emergency operations center, where they participated in simulated responses and actions.

The exercise is a mandatory certification requirement by the Federal Aviation Administration which tests airfield disaster preparedness and response by simulating a full-scale aircraft emergency disaster. The drill evaluates the operational capacity of emergency response in a stressful environment. Similar exercises were conducted last fall at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport and Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keāhole.