On May 15th, RIC hosted the Triennial Full-Scale Emergency (FSE) Plan Exercise, “AIREX ’25”.  The FSE is an FAA requirement that must be conducted once every 36 months.  This year’s exercise was the culmination of months of planning, collaboration, and effort.  Exercise planning was led by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) in partnership with the airport public safety team and Henrico County Emergency Management.

The objectives of the FSE were:

• Examine the ability of emergency response personnel from Richmond International Airport and applicable mutual aid organizations to establish, operate and maintain a unified coordination structure, during response to a significant aircraft incident following established policies and procedures.
• Evaluate the ability of emergency response personnel to establish and maintain interoperable tactical communications systems across all agencies.
• Demonstrate the ability of public information staff rom RIC and other organizations to effectively disseminate accurate & actionable life-saving messaging during a significant aircraft incident.
• Evaluate the ability of the RIC ARFF department and mutual aid partners to effectively deploy specialized firefighting capabilities to manage and suppress fires during a significant aircraft incident.
• Evaluate the ability of the RIC ARFF department and mutual aid partners to perform mass casualty triage and coordinate the transportation of all injured persons with regional healthcare partners.
• Demonstrate the ability of airline staff and appropriate response organizations to coordinate the delivery of family assistance, reunification, and survivor support to the affected population.

AIREX ’25 was designed around a scenario that involved the collision of two aircraft, a Boeing 737 landing short of Runway 34 and veering left striking a stationary Gulfstream corporate jet holding short of the runway on Taxiway Lima.  Both aircraft sustain significant damage, with a post impact fire and passenger impacts ranging from less serious, minor injuries (GREEN), to serious injuries needing immediate attention (YELLOW), to injuries requiring immediate attention for live threatening conditions (RED), to deceased or mortally wounded persons (BLACK).

Organizations participating in AIREX ’25 included the following:

• Richmond International Airport (nearly every department played a role in the planning or execution of the exercise)
• Virginia Department of Emergency Management
• Henrico County
• City of Richmond
• Richmond Ambulance Authority
• Hanover County
• Chesterfield County
• Central Virginia Healthcare Coalition
• Virginia Department of Health
• American Red Cross
• Southwest Airlines
• Altria
• Federal Aviation Administration
• Transportation Security Administration
• MillionAir

We’d like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the many volunteers who supported the exercise including crash scene and friends & family role players, make-up artists, administrative and safety/security staff, and others.  Additionally, thanks to those who braved a misty, cool day to observe the exercise close up.  Finally, thanks to the Virginia Department of Management who provided the technical guidance, assistance and resources to make this exercise a true success!

An After-Action Report is in development, and we hope to share it with RIC stakeholders and our partners in the coming months.   We hope to absorb what we learned, grow, and continue to foster positive, productive working relationships with our partners in hopes that should we ever face a real-world emergency, the airport community and our community partners will be able to respond effectively and efficiently.  More pictures from the exercise are posted below.