Chattanooga Airport to conduct full scale aircraft emergency drill

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The Chattanooga Airport will be conducting a full-scale aircraft disaster drill at The Chattanooga Airport on Tuesday morning, April 14, 2026.

They say beginning at 9:00 a.m., the mock exercise will simulate the crash of a jet aircraft and involve multiple emergency responders from the Chattanooga and Hamilton County area.

This will not affect any flights to or from Chattanooga Airport or interrupt any traffic patterns surrounding it.

Residents in the Chattanooga Airport area or surrounding neighborhoods should not be concerned if they see numerous emergency vehicles enroute to The Chattanooga Airport.

This exercise is an FAA requirement and is conducted every three years, they say.

Should an actual aircraft emergency occur, the purpose of this drill is to ensure The Chattanooga Airport and local emergency response agencies are prepared.

They say exercise objectives include testing communications, fire and police response, emergency medical response, interagency coordination, and the incident command system.

The morning of the drill, the participants will be given a disaster scenario involving multiple casualties, and from that moment, the disaster begins to play out, as if it were a real-life situation.