It was all a drill: Black plume of smoke over Regina part of airport exercise, not actual disaster

There was no plane crash — it just looked like there was.

Black smoke rose into the Regina sky on Wednesday morning as the airport authority ran an exercise involving a mock plane crash.

The exercise was intended to "test the emergency response plans and capabilities of the airport and local partners," in the event of a plane crash the Regina Airport Authority said.

The training involved more than 150 people, including fire crews from the airport and the city, Regina police, EMS personnel and the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

"There's so many things that happen and there's so many parameters around it that if we train together, we're all on the same page when disaster happens," said airport fire Chief Kevin Hembroff.

"It's not just about bringing the agencies together, but it's about creating a scenario that's realistic," said RAA president and CEO James Bogusz.

The airport authority is required to do such a test every four years but the RAA routinely reviews emergency procedures between the "big test," Bogusz said.