A military plane crash, a passenger coach overturned, and a host of casualties to get to.
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That was the situation that presented to the city's first responders as part of a bi-annual audit of the airport's emergency plan.
Fire and Rescue NSW crews from Forest Hill, Lake Albert, Turvey Park were joined by the army, airforce, NSW ambulances, paramedics, volunteer rescue and police in attending to the simulated scene.
But the simulation was marred in part by a distinct lack of volunteers.
Ahead of Saturday's two-hour emergency drill at Wagga Airport, city council had issued a call out for families or individuals who would be willing to put their acting chops on the line for the sake of the demonstrations.
That call out garnered up to 89 interested parties, but airport facility manager Leon Burger said, when the morning arrived only nine volunteers materialised.
"We had to get on Facebook and appeal for more, and in the end we had about 24 volunteers join us," Mr Burger said.
"It's not ideal, we were disappointed there weren't more."
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The lackluster numbers hindered some of the exercises, but not enough to cast doubt on the effectiveness of the city's emergency response strategies.
"Activating the emergency plan is not a problem any more, we're ready to do it whenever we need to," Mr Burger said.
"It's handling a large number of casualties that's more difficult and that's what we were hoping to be able to focus on [during Saturday's simulation]."
Saturday's demonstration follows a legitimate enactment of the airport's emergency plan, when a two-seater plane presented on Tuesday evening with a defective undercarriage.
The possibility that the plane would not land safely forced the city's first responders into action. However, quick action by the pilot and airport staff ensured the plane came down without incident.
"We've had a number of incidents this year where we've had to put the plan to work," Mr Burger said.
"There was that one the other night, and back in May there was a plane that caught fire mid-air and we managed to get that one down safely too."
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Run on average every second year, the emergency simulation is intended to test the strategic value of Wagga City Council's airport emergency plan.
Adjudicators watched on as combined crews worked to manage the demonstration as it unfolded.
Simulations included a passenger emergency involving a semi-coach, capable of seating up to 80.
Each volunteer on board the coach had received a different injury during the initial 'crash', which had been painted on to look as authentic as possible.
On the other side of the runway however, a separate simulation involved a military crash landing, that had left an airforce pilot and his co-pilot trapped after having sustained severed head trauma.
Working together, firefighters secured the crash zones, while paramedics and ambulance workers quickly assessed each survivor for their various injuries.
Once satisfied of their safety, the passengers were removed from the situation and brought to a secure place to await transfer to hospital.
The greatest difficulty in the scenarios, Mr Burger said, was assessing so many injuries to quickly find the passengers in most dire circumstances.
"That's what happens in an emergency if it involves many people, you have to work quickly to get everyone out safely," he said.