Santa Fe students, faculty aid rapid response in mock airplane crash drill
October 13, 2025
On October 7, a Sunshine Airlines CRJ 900 plane carrying 76 souls was en route to the Gainesville Regional Airport. During final approach, the flight crew warned of a descent rate alert of 1,100 feet per minute, exceeding the landing gear鈥檚 limit for absorbing the impact. When it touched down, the right main landing gear fractured, causing the plane to flip on the runway. A wing broke from the fuselage, causing jet fuel to spill from the tanks, catching fire. An Alert III is issued by the control tower at 10 a.m., and the combined forces of Gainesville airport, EMS, police, hospital and fire respond to find victims strewn on the tarmac.
This scenario was derived from an actual crisis with Delta Airlines flight 4819 鈥� which occurred on February 17, 2025 鈥� to construct a required FAA drill that tests the coordinated reaction of Gainesville airport and area first responders to a mass casualty event. 青青草视频 (SF) students and faculty played a central role, serving as both crash victims and responders on the fringes of Gainesville Regional Airport.
On this day, Rickelle Caraway, a student in the SF EMS program, is a 鈥�50-year-old female with a large knee wound/burn with loose tissue/large abrasion to the left calf and wrist.鈥� She explained that her crash persona was also marked for chest pain but was able to walk. 鈥淭here were around 50-60 victims like me on scene,鈥� she said. 鈥淓ach of us were given a tag with basic information 鈥� if we were able to walk, if we had a pulse 鈥� and we were outfitted with makeup for wounds that matched the description.鈥�
The drill, which was co-coordinated by SF Associate Director of EMS Programs Michael Anderson, featured a frame to simulate the outer shell of the aircraft, and reenactor bodies littered across the field in need of urgent triage, each with a color-coded card to indicate the seriousness of their condition.
Amy Dautel, EMS assistant professor and lab manager with the SF Institute of Public Safety, served as one of their rescuers, coordinating with Associate Professor of EMT Programs Jon Duff to help wrangle and manage SF volunteers.
鈥淲e organized the moulage setup, distributed scenario assignments, ensured safety on site, and oversaw student involvement throughout the exercise,鈥� Dautel said. 鈥淭he sounds, sights, and structure of the event closely mirrored a true mass casualty response, giving both our students and local responders an authentic training experience. This drill is an outstanding preparation tool for our students. It exposes them to the scale, pace, and organization required in a real incident and allows them to observe firsthand how local EMS agencies coordinate during major incidents. It builds their confidence, situational awareness, and teamwork skills qualities they鈥檒l rely on in their future EMS careers and during clinical rotations with agencies like ACFR and GFR.鈥�
SF Paramedic student and drill volunteer Alonso Scarpino said 鈥渢he exercise replicated the organized chaos of an actual mass casualty incident as closely as you could imagine 鈥� lots of moving parts.鈥�
鈥淭he drill helps us get used to the idea that this very horrific event may happen,鈥� said the 鈥榶ellow-card鈥� casualty. 鈥淭hat way we can be prepared to save as many lives as possible.
Good news: the first responders acted swiftly and none of the 76 passengers and crew were sent to the morgue.
