Kearney airport conducting emergency drill Thursday

KEARNEY, Neb. - Officials are informing residents that the presence of smoke and emergency vehicles around Kearney Regional Airport are part of a training exercise being conducted Thursday.

Starting 1:00 p.m. Thursday, the airport will run a full-scale emergency training exercise that’s expected to last about two hours.

It’s part of a routine FAA-required drill held every three years to test the airport’s emergency response plan in case of an aircraft-related incident.

Firefighters who specialize in aircraft emergencies will take part along with several city and county emergency teams.

The training is not open to the public, but people nearby may notice smoke or a large presence of emergency vehicles.

Officials say there will be no impact on scheduled flights, and everything should be back to normal by mid-afternoon.