Bob Hope Airport Holds Emergency Drill

BURBANK (CBSLA.com) — A full-scale emergency response training exercise was being held Tuesday at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, according to officials.

The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority along with numerous local agencies will participate in the two-hour drill, which is required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to be conducted every three years to test readiness in case of a real incident, airport spokeswoman Lucy Burghdorf said.

Details about the exercise were not immediately available, but the drill was scheduled to take place on open space north of the FAA control tower and east of the airport's north-south runway.

A secondary exercise will simultaneously take place on the ramp next to Taxiway D, located at the north-west portion of the Airport.

Volunteers began reported to the drill site at 6 a.m., where they were given a safety briefing and makeup to simulate a variety of injuries, according to Burghdorf.

As part of the exercise, the airport will be placing a partial aircraft fuselage at the incident site, along with a modest amount of special effects at the beginning of the drill to signal the start of the exercise, she said.

Normal flight operations were expected to continue throughout the exercise, Burghdorf said.