Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport performs full-scale crash test [Video]

ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires airports to conduct extensive emergency drills once every three years.

Thursday, September 19, The Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport conducted its disaster test.

The goal is to test the airport’s emergency response plan. Nothing from the event was real.

“It was an incredible group effort from all our airport staff to our mutual aid partners to responding agencies and our volunteers,” Alexa Briehl, the public relations, marketing and media manager for the Roanoke airport, said. “(The volunteers) are ready for show biz.”

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The type of disaster differs every time they do one of these. This time the scenario was a plane that crashed into a field shortly after takeoff. It skidded across Interstate 581 and took out two cars on the way down.

It took the airport staff all three years to prepare for this event.

“The first year would be to go through …