Director Sedgwick County Emergency Management Wichita, Kansas, United States
The horrific mid-air collision of American Airlines Flight 5342 and a U.S. Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter in D.C. shook our nation but had a profound impact in the Air Capital of the World, Wichita as the flight originated from Wichita. Wichita has just hosted the U.S. Ice Skating Championship for the first time in the state and many passengers were skaters, coaches, and family members that the community just spent the last several day spending time with and admiring. We thought we had planned, trained, and exercised our aircraft emergency operations plan, but we hadn't considered how we would respond and recover from the accident site being over 1200 miles away. -Learn why it is critical for emergency managers to be aware of large, public events in their communities -Learn the roles and responsibilities of the airport Family Incident Support team and how local resources support the family reunification process. -Learn how local resources partner with the NTSB, airline companies and the local airport in responding to aircraft accidents
