Dothan Regional Airport practices for terrorist scenario

Nov. 19, 2010

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Nov. 19--It was like a scene from a movie.

A full SWAT team from the Dothan Police Department threw flashbang grenades as they converged on a bus filled with hostages at the mercy of a terrorist as airplanes and helicopters whizzed by in the distance.

It wasn't actually a movie, but luckily it was still fantasy, all part of the Dothan Regional Airport's emergency preparedness drill Thursday.

Working with law enforcement agencies from across the region, along with the Dothan Fire Department and some federal agencies, the airport tested a scenario in which a group of terrorists made a move on the terminal.

With two "terrorists" inside the terminal and another on the bus, which represented an airliner, the scenario served as a test for how agencies would respond to an actual emergency of such importance.

"Our scenario had a terrorist on board the airliner that had some sort of concealed weapon," said Art Morris, Dothan Regional Airport director. "He tried to hijack the aircraft, but in so doing, they ran into a small general aviation aircraft, which caused a fire. The fire department put the fire out, then found out from the flight crew there was a terrorist on board, so the fire department backed off, because they can't do anything until police secure the big aircraft."

The SWAT team followed, securing the terrorist on the bus before heading for the terminal.

All of these activities took place at the airport, which holds exercises once a year.

"On even-numbered years, we have a full-scale exercise like this, doing things out in the open and actually physically doing everything," Morris said. "On odd years, we do a tabletop exercise. It's literally a board, and we roleplay everything on the board. It's good practice, and it shows us where our strengths and weaknesses are. We try to improve the weaknesses and pat ourselves on the back for the strengths."

While he said things ran mostly smoothly Thursday, there were some problems that emerged.

"We've already found a couple things today," he said. "We'll have an after-action meeting after Thanksgiving. Everybody's taking notes to see where mistakes are made so in the next exercise, we won't make those mistakes."

Federal safety guidelines only require airports to hold drills once every three years, so Dothan actually exceeds those guidelines.