LA/ONTARIO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT HOLDS FULL-SCALE AIRPORT EMERGENCY EXERCISE

(Ontario, Calif. --April 13, 2011) Approximately 100 participants from the LA/Ontario International Airport's (ONT) Airport Rescue and Firefighting, Airfield Operations, Police, Construction & Maintenance and Media Relations units participated in an unrehearsed, fullscale aircraft incident Air Exercise (AI REX) drill.

In the exercise, a commercial jet taking off collided with a general aviation aircraft taxing across the runway.

AIREX drills are designed to test ONT's Emergency Plan. The exercise is required under Federal Aviation Administration regulations to be conducted at least once every three years to evaluate the coordination among various agencies responsible for responding to an aircraft incident or accident at ONT. Personnel at ONT conduct this exercise every two years.

"This drill is designed to test, as real as possible, the types of incidents that could happen," said Keith Snyder, ONT chief of operations.

Other agencies participating included the National Transportation Safety Board; local police and fire departments; federal aviation and law enforcement agencies; American Red Cross; local area hospital emergency rooms, medical units, ambulance services and other mutual-aid organizations; and Southwest Airlines emergency response teams.