“We got 40 volunteers right now,” says Marge Thomas, local emergency management coordinator, “and I need 18 to 20 more for the exercise.” The biggest plane that is able and clear to take off and land at Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport carries up to 50 people, and for the purpose of the drill, every seat needs to be filled. “We will have 5 to 8 people play family members during the drill,” says Thomas, to test any type of emotional and physical reaction.
If it’s any enticement, some participants get to wear make-up. “We will have volunteers go through a moulage,” says Thomas. “That is, we’ll put make-up on them to resemble victims of an airplane crash and we brief them on what role they get to play.”
The rescue staff will be comprised of CHO airport staff, Albemarle Rescue Squad, Albemarle Fire and Rescue as well as rescue staff from Madison and Greene counties.
The exercise is a requirement that every airport has to fulfill once every three years.