• • •
In partnership with the
Greater Toronto Airports Authority, Peel Regional Police & Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Tours & Events

Exercise Bright Star

On October 20 2012 Bright Star Airlines flight number 321, an Airbus A320 bound for Calgary aborted takeoff on wet Runway 23 at Toronto Pearson International Airport and caught fire. This was the scenario for the Greater Toronto Airport Authority's latest major crash exercise.

Several hundred volunteers gathered at the Fire & Emergency Services Training Institute (FESTI) early in the morning. They were split into 3 groups with pre-assigned roles: injured passengers, uninjured passengers and family and friends. The passengers were briefed first, and then bussed to the aircraft, parked on taxiway November. The Family and Friends were briefed next, and transported to Terminal One. After the news of the crash came down, they were taken to a quarantined holding area and organized by GTAA, Security and Airline managers and personnel.

The Airbus A320 was provided by Air Canada (C-FFWN, fleet number 212). In the scenario Bright Star Airlines crew were played by Air Canada personnel: Pilot, Capt. Rod Graham, First Officer, Christine Lyon, In Charge Flight Attendant, Charles Tishchart, FA, Francesca Morrassut, and FA, Ray Nakon.

The crash scenario saw the passengers aboard the A320 quickly and efficiently evacuated by the cabin crew with air stairs simulating the emergency escape chutes. The evacuated uninjured and ambulatory injured victims were then moved to a central area clear of the burning aircraft. Fire services were on site and had water on the aircraft even before the last passenger could leave the aircraft. The most seriously injured were carefully removed from the aircraft by the first responders - GTAA Fire. The airline crew organized the passengers and separated the ambulatory injured victims and crew and established them in a separate area. After the Fire personnel had extricated the non-ambulatory victims, they commenced first aid and evaluation of the injured.

Triage commenced when the first Peel Regional paramedics arrived on the scene, and victims were prioritized for treatment and transport. Each injured victim had a triage tag filled out and attached to them, categorizing them for immediate, or delayed treatment and transportation, or held for evacuation. Immediate treatments were organized where they were for transport by ambulance, each prepared and evaluated by paramedic teams. Once aboard they were hooked up to monitors and taken back to the 'FESTI hospital'. On arrival there the medical aspect of the scenario ended, however it continued as 'Bright Star Airlines' personnel met with each patient to get information from them and ensure the airline was there to help them. This information was shared with the airline's Ops Centre, and coordinated for dissemination to the Family and Friends and media.

The ambulatory injured boarded a GTAA bus for more detailed triage, carried out by another paramedic, and assisted by a Peel Regional Police officer who gathered information for the department. Once the delayed category patients were boarded on ambulances, the bus took the remaining victims with minor injuries to the hospital. The Family and friends of the passengers were bused to Terminal one where a holding area for the scenario was established. GTAA, Police, and Airline personnel organize the volunteers, and collected their details, and information they could provide about the passengers. The uninjured passengers were eventually transported to the terminal as well to join their loved ones.

"Exercise! Exercise! Exercise!" was heard on all Company and Emergency Services radio calls at the beginning of each transmission in order to avoid confusion and reaction to a real incident instead of the simulation. Despite this, Air Canada operations headquarters in Montreal mistakenly picked up a company radio message (part of the exercise) and sent out a flash message that there was a 12 year old passenger missing in Toronto (authentically portrayed by a 20 year old lady from Barrie). The exercise coordinators quickly informed Air Canada of the mistake and the search was called off before it began.

Evaluators from FESTI, GTAA, and paramedic agencies and the airline all oversaw the exercise, and observers from other agencies were also present for many aspects. The entire event was filmed for training purposes. A large debrief was held at FESTI after the exercise for the Police, Fire and EMS participants and evaluators and observers. Volunteers were given a nice gift bag and refreshments and snacks by GTAA after the event. Ten YYZ Airport Watch members volunteered for the event, each taking on different roles. Some played passengers (both injured and uninjured), others depicted friends, family and outsiders.

I played injured victim Mark Kohl, who was travelling with his wife and mother to a wedding in Calgary. He was asthmatic and experiencing shortness of breath, and was transported by ambulance to hospital. John Griffith, Paul Thacker, and Joanne Woodbridge played uninjured passengers. Mark Fisher, Paul Hossack, Fred Eid, and Doug Williams took on roles of relatives and loved ones. Ron Stanley was a passenger on another flight concerned if the crash would affect him, and Dushan Divjak depicted a lawyer in the Terminal encouraging victims and family to launch a class action suit. The latter roles make the situation realistic for airport, airline and security personnel trying to deal with the situation, sort out who everyone is, and their degree of involvement.

The event went well, and provided a valuable training scenario for the airport, emergency and airline personnel involved, and also provided the volunteers with an interesting insight into this critical aspect of airport operations. On behalf of YYZ Airport Watch, I would like to thank the GTAA for including members of the group in this exciting event. Additional thanks go to YYZAW members Paul Thacker and John Griffith for providing additional images.

Photos and story courtesy of Andrew Cline