Testing readiness, 433rd AES participates in airport emergency drill Published May 4, 2008 433rd AES April 3, 2008 -- The 433rd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron participated in the Brownsville-South Padre Island International Airport emergency exercise April 3. Members from the AES joined more than 150 people from 20 local agencies in the emergency drill. The exercise portrayed a Continental Airlines regional jet with 50 passengers en route from Cancun, Mexico to Houston that had an emergency while in flight about eight miles south of the airport. "Members of the Alamo Wing were able to provide emergency experts as well as general support for the exercise," said Lieutenant Colonel James Crowe, director of aeromedical operations here. "In the simulation, the aircraft had one engine on fire and requested permission to land at Brownsville," said Michael D. Jones, the airport's business development manager, in a news release recently. "While attempting to land, the jet missed the runway, first landing in a pond of water then exiting near the airport's fuel farm and exploding." Local students were the passengers and portrayed either wounded or dead, with the help of moulage provided by AES members. "Military experts had applied makeup and moulage on the actors to make the incident seem more real," Jones said. "Brownsville's first responders then went into action rescuing the wounded and moving the fatalities from the aircraft." The city's Director of Aviation Larry Brown praised the crews for a job well done. "You saved a lot of people out there today," he said, adding that although the exercise lasted close to seven hours, airport operations were not cancelled or affected. The city's Emergency Management Coordinator and Homeland Security Director Jeff Johnston also highlighted a job well done. Mark Webster, supervisor for the FAA's control tower here, said the emergency exercise was a successful one. The next emergency exercise is scheduled for 2011.