Emergency crews rushed to Cameron McIntosh Airport Monday afternoon after a Piper aircraft hit a hillside shortly after takeoff.
One adult and three teenagers appeared to suffer serious injuries as a result of the incident.
Fortunately, the four victims emerged totally unharmed because, as it turned out, it wasn't a real crash at all.
Instead it was all a simulated mock accident, part of the live emergency response exercise conducted at the airport by the City of North Battleford and Transport Canada.
The live exercise provided an opportunity for emergency responders and airport personnel to test the newly-developed Emergency Response Plan to determine what areas of that plan require additional practice or communication, and also allowed North Battleford to satisfy the federal requirement that all certified airports conduct such a live exercise at least once every four years.
A main objective was to co-ordinate airport personnel with first responders - the RCMP, North Battleford Fire and Emergency Services, and local EMS and other supporting agencies.
Participants included NBFES, EMS, the RCMP, City of North Battleford Public Works, as well as several observers and a number of volunteers who played the roles of accident victims.
The incident was dubbed Operation Wile E. Coyote and took place around 1 p.m.
A "911" call was made, and emergency crews headed out to the scene to take on the familiar roles they would assume in such a situation.
Members of WPD Ambulance tended to injured victims and placed them on stretchers. North Battleford Fire and Emergency Services doused a fire that had erupted near the small aircraft, and RCMP were on the scene to ensure order.
Deputy Fire Chief Brian Wilson gave media on the scene a mock update of the situation around 1:35 p.m.
"Crews arrived to find a small Piper aircraft that's crashed into a hillside with a number of patients," Wilson told reporters.
"We were still trying to identify some fluids that were on board the plane. We dealt with a small fire that was off of one of the fuel tanks off one of the wings."
In speaking to reporters later, airport safety consultant Kathleen Henderson expanded some more about the scenario. The mock incident, she said, involved an aircraft impacted when a coyote chased a herd of antelope right into the plane, causing it to crash right after takeoff.
Those on board included a pilot, his two children and a friend of one of the kids, but there was another, more suspicious plot twist as well.
"There was also the aspect of the fact that the pilot may or may not have been an eco-terrorist who may or may not have had a substance that he had on the airplane called arsenic trioxide," said Henderson. The pilot may or may not have also had leukemia as well.
The airport did go through its entire emergency response plan during the exercise, she said. As part of the mock incident, Transportation Safety Board of Canada, the Civil Aviation Occurrence Department, and NAVCAN were all called, and the airport went through the process of acquiring the safety data sheets dealing with dangerous goods as part of the process.
During the debriefing of participants, the various agencies expressed their satisfaction with the swift response by their personnel.
One area that could be improved upon, they agreed, was communications - particularly cell phones and the number of dropped calls and other difficulties people had in communicating with various agencies.
It was also noted, though, these kinds of communications difficulties are typical of what would happen during a real emergency.
Adding to the realism was the portrayal of the four accident "victims" who were fully made-up and played their roles as realistically as possible. City financial accountant Arthur Smith played the role of pilot while Aidane and Tegan Schafer, daughters of public works director Stewart Schafer, played the role of crash victims.
Aidane said her "injuries" included whiplash and a broken wrist, while Tegan portrayed someone whose legs were crushed.
Fire Chief Pat MacIsaac's son, Aidan Douglas MacIsaac, said his character suffered some serious broken bones.
"My femur was broken and there was blood everywhere on it," he said. "I could only move one arm up but didn't have enough energy to move it around that much."
All four "victims" were given praise for their portrayals, providing as realistic an experience as possible for the various agencies involved in the scenario.
Generally, North Battleford got high marks for its level of co-ordination in dealing with the mock incident. The value of the mock crash comes, however, from simply participating in such an exercise and in getting ready for a real-life situation should it happen.
"There are always things to learn from, and this is the time to do it. This is why we do a live exercise," said Henderson.
