On Saturday September 15, 2007, Reagan National Airport staged a disaster drill based on the scenario of a regional jet
crashing at the east end of Runway 4 while attempting to land. There were dozens of casualties in the plane, in vehicles
struck by the plane, and in the water. A fire was put out by firefighters and volunteer victims were rescued and
transported to area hospitals.
Arlington Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) operators provided communications at the airport, and RACES and
Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) operators provided communications from and between hospitals, shelters and other
locations in the area. RACES and ARES' main function was to coordinate victims transportation to and from hospitals, with the location of each
victim being tracked using fictitious names.
Read Will Doggette's APEX report in the
ARPSC newsletter (PDF). Click on the RACES insignia below to listen to an MP3 recording (approx. 2.5 minutes) of the APEX net during the exercise. Recording copyright 2007 ARPSC, Inc. All rights reserved.
