Disaster Drill Planned at San Jose Airport

Mar. 8 -- About 120 airport workers, emergency personnel and volunteers acting as passengers will simulate the aftermath of a magnitude 7.0 earthquake at the Mineta San Jose International Airport this morning.

The emergency drill, which the Federal Aviation Administration requires the airport to conduct every three years, will start around 9 a.m., airport spokesman Rich Dressler said. Crews will help displaced and wounded passengers and simulate a roof collapse at one of the gates in the C terminal, Dressler said.

Regular airport operations will proceed as usual during the drill. Drill participants will wear blue vests to distinguish them from arriving and departing passengers, and signs are posted throughout the airport to tell curious passengers that the activity is only a drill, Dressler said.

Past emergency drills have simulated plane crashes, Dressler said. But in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, airport officials decided to set up a natural disaster.

"That affects everything, everybody," Dressler said. "With an earthquake, there will be so much going on."

The drill will wrap up around 11 a.m.

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