Long Beach Airport Holds Disaster Preparedness Drill

LONG BEACH (CBSLA.com) —  Officials at Long Beach Airport want to be prepared for just about anything.

They told KCAL9's Juan Fernandez to be prepared they wanted employees to participate in a Friday evening disaster preparedness drill.

Fernandez reported from the airport live on the KCAL9 News at 10 p.m. -- minutes before the drill was to start.

The dtill was to be centered on a JetBlue jet in crisis.

Officials were set to have a series of controlled explosions, some smoke and lots of passengers in need of medical attention.

It's all part of an FAA-mandated exercise that has to be undertaken every three years.

The key, he reported, is to have first responders working in synch with airport personnel on how to tackle emergencies and crisis management.

Officials didn't want to disclose the exact nature of the drill to maintain an element of surprise.

City Fire, Police and Homeland Security were just some of the agencies taking part in the drill, Fernandez reported.

Long Beach Fire Chief Mike DuRee told Fernandez the drills are vitally important.

"It's very realistic, actually," DuRee said, "We have a lot of actors that come in ... and they actually look injured, even though they're not. It gives us the ability to hone our skills."