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Aspen airport, first responders stage fiery triennial emergency exercise

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Austin Colbert

Firefighters battle the flames during the triennial full-scale emergency exercise.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

Serious incidents at the Aspen airport are, thankfully, rare. But when they do occur, such as in 2014 and 2001, regular training exercises help keep responders on top of their game.

On Friday, the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport held its triennial full-scale emergency exercise, a requirement by the Federal Aviation Administration that all airports holding a Class 1 Airport Operating Certificate must stage once every three years.

It was led by the Sardy Field Fire Department, which is the airport’s personal unit, along with just about every emergency entity from Aspen to Carbondale. This included fire, ambulance, and the Pitkin County Sheriff’s department, among others.

“The airport has an airport certification manual that the FAA requires we have,” said David Schneider, the airport operations manager who helped organize the drill. “It tells us how we run the airport. Part of it is an emergency preparedness plan. Every three years, we are required to do a full-scale exercise.”

Notifications were sent out across the community a few weeks in advance, and signs were posted along the roadways to make sure people were aware. That’s because the airport’s “boneyard,” located just off the main runway, was home to flames large enough to easily see from Highway 82, with fake-bloodied crash victims wandering about, played by actors.


Firefighters battle the flames during the triennial full-scale emergency exercise on Friday, June 7, 2024, at the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Firefighters battle the flames during the triennial full-scale emergency exercise on Friday, June 7, 2024, at the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

The idea was to make the exercise as real as possible — they brought in makeup artists for the mock-injured — so if the worst ever did happen, the responders would be prepared.

Planning for the exercise began in December, meaning a roughly six-month prep period. Scenarios change and are largely up to the local organizers, as opposed to the FAA calling all the shots. This year’s scenario involved two aircraft colliding on the runway, one a CRJ-700 with 41 people on board, and a Cessna Citation X with five people on board.

In reality, the Cessna was played by a Frankensteined metal fuselage used for these sort of drills, while a couple of busses played the larger aircraft. Half the staging area was for the “Cessna,” which was impressively lit on fire for the firefighters, and the other half was for the victims of the larger “plane,” with firefighters and medics rushing in to aid them.

The entire drill lasted approximately an hour. Upwards of 150 people took part.

A firefighter carries a child, or in this case a doll, to safety during the triennial full-scale emergency exercise on Friday, June 7, 2024, at the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Medics carry an actor, playing a crash victim, to the ambulance during the triennial full-scale emergency exercise on Friday, June 7, 2024, at the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

“If we had a real emergency, the full-scale emergency here, you would have all of the mutual responders from, eventually, all around,” Schneider said. “We also have volunteers here from the community. We are also required to have what would be victims of the scenario, so we reached out to the community and asked them to volunteer.”

There hasn’t been a death from an incident at the Aspen airport since a Bombardier Challenger 600 crashed on Jan. 5, 2014, resulting in the death of 54-year-old co-pilot Sergio Carranza Brabata. Prior to that, the last deadly incident is believed to have been the March 29, 2001, crash of a chartered Gulfstream III inbound from Los Angeles. The three crew members and their 15 passengers were all killed.

As rare as they are, incidents like those are why the FAA requires airports to stay a step ahead in terms of responding to emergencies.

“We are testing aspects of the emergency plan,” Schneider said. “That is why we put this on every three years. In between that time, every year we are required to do a review of our emergency plan with our emergency responders.”

acolbert@aspentimes.com

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