Airport Plans Major Emergency Drill

The Santa Barbara Airport will be conducting a full-scale disaster exercise Wednesday morning from 9 to 11 a.m. Meant to simulate a major aircraft disaster, the drill will include 17 different agencies — local public safety offices, Cottage and Goleta hospitals, TSA, FBI, Red Cross, and so on — and involve smoke from the airfield northwest of the main runway. “The smoke may be seen by those traveling on Hollister Avenue between Aero Camino and Los Carneros Road,” airport officials said. The airport maintains an emergency response plan for major disasters that federal law dictates must be tested every three years.