A Hijacked Plane? Detroit Metro Airport Practices How to Handle Terror Events

Jun. 14—Romulus — Detroit Metro Airport held a disaster and preparedness training exercise Wednesday morning that was designed to help train first responders for an active shooter who hijacks a plane with an explosion onboard.

Airport disaster and preparedness training is required by the Federal Aviation Administration every three years and helps airport public safety officials practice coordinating with partners in southeast Michigan, said Tadarial Sturdivant, Wayne County Airport Authority senior vice president of public safety.

The drill began with an active shooter scenario on a bus on airport grounds, Sturdivant said. The active shooter took over one of the hangars, taking hostages and hijacking a plane on the tarmac. Students in Eastern Michigan University's 2023 Police and Fire Staff and Command Leadership Programs volunteered to be injured civilians, hostages and passengers on the plane.

"The scenario changes every three years. This year we're exercising an active shooter, a terrorist takeover hostage situation and a shooting in the airplane," Sturdivant said.

An explosion was simulated onboard during the training.

When the shooter hijacked the plane, at least six airport authority SWAT team members responded. Two boarded the aircraft from the tail end with fake guns drawn while two others blocked the air stairs near the cockpit with shields and simulated weapons.

Roughly 20 volunteers played injured or deceased shooting victims around the plane on the tarmac but the SWAT team did not address them until the threat was eliminated, standard procedure when responding to an active shooter situation, Sturdivant said.

"We can't support and help the patients, so to speak, if we're in harm's way," said Curtis Dunlap, the airport's deputy fire chief. "Police secure it (the scene) for us and we come in and do our medical piece."

Emergency medical services and fire trucks waited near the plane to set up a staging and triage area once the threat was eliminated.

"Given the scenario, we were here to triage people that were down and out and needed medical support," Dunlap said. "In major situations ... we have the city of Taylor, the city of Novi, the city of Farmington Hills, city of Westland and ... Canton here to support us with the triage in the transport of patients to the trauma one centers in the area."

The runway used for the drill was closed. Gunshots and explosions were simulated using blank rounds in guns that are used to scare animals off the runways at the airport.

While practice sessions are important, public safety officers have to be able to adjust in real-time as well, Sturdivant said.

"We've all seen an uptick or increase in active shooter incidents across America," Sturdivant said. "Exercises like this help us build that muscle memory so that when we're in a crisis situation ... we can respond to a stimulus correctly and appropriately."

Over 300 people participated in the training, including the airport authority public safety force, Michigan State Police, federal law enforcement and first responders from Taylor, Novi, Farmington Hills, Westland and Canton Township.

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