CAA: GA News, "ARFF Crews Slow To Respond To Emergency Landing"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Thursday, October 24, 2002

Crews Slow To Respond To Emergency Landing
NewsNet5 - Cleveland (OH)


Big questions have arisen about the time it took emergency crews to
respond to an emergency landing at Burke Lakefront Airport two weeks
ago. 

No one was injured as the crippled plane skidded to a halt, but
NewsChannel5's Joe Pagonakis reported that the accident sparked
confusion. 

On Oct. 9, the right-side landing gear on a twin engine Turboprop with
four people on board would not lock into place. Seconds later, there was
a dramatic slide down the runway, Pagonakis reported. No one was
injured. 

The incident produced a bevy of phone calls by emergency crews, all
caught on audiotapes released to NewsChannel5. 

Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is heard making a call to
Cleveland's Red Center for help from the Fire Department and Emergency
Medical Services. 

"Hey Red Center, this is Hopkins. Burke is on stand-by for an alert 2 --
a Cessna with four souls on board and one cocked landing gear, and he's
coming in." 

The Hopkins official made it clear that the incident was at Burke
Lakefront Airport, with four passengers on board. But, the Red Center
was forced to make two clarification calls to Hopkins over the next 10
minutes and 50 seconds. 

Here is an excerpt from the call: 

Red Center: "Yeah, Hopkins Airport, I'm just very confused here. We got
a call that at Hopkins Airport was a plane with a landing gear problem. 

Hopkins: "No. That was Burke Lakefront." 

Red Center: "Oh! Everybody's been calling up here. They never said the
word 'Burke.' We listened to it; nobody said 'Burke,' they were all
saying 'Hopkins.' I had a caller say, 'What do you have going on at
Hopkins?' Somebody picked up the phone and said there was a landing gear
problem with four souls on board." 

Cleveland EMS Commissioner Edward Eckhart said the case has sparked a
full investigation and that response time to the crash was slowed
because of confusion over phone lines. 

"Obviously, we should have caught this," he said. "You would think that
if an incident was happening from Hopkins, the call would come from
Hopkins and vice versa. And that's what happens 90 percent of the time.
We are working (with) people at both airports to make sure we've got our
protocols on the same page." 

The investigation is not likely to result in any disciplinary action,
NewsChannel5 reported. But the city said it is taking the case very
seriously.


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