Training event held near park

MAHOGANY ROCK - Federal, state and local search and rescue personnel participated together this weekend in one of the wildest portions of North Carolina in a three-day simulated airplane crash and missing person exercise.

The third-annual event was hosted by the National Park Service and utilized the rough terrain along the Blue Ridge Parkway and Stone Mountain State Park for three days.

The mission's objective was to train the multiple agencies in wilderness searches, land navigation, map reading, technical rescues and interagency coordination.

Alleghany and Wilkes counties emergency management departments and Wilkes Community College sponsored the training scenario, which started with a fictitious plane crash on Scott Ridge above the Devil's Garden.

The onboard electronic locator transmitter (ELT) activated on impact, emitting an auditory emergency beacon on a practice frequency. The survivors wandered away from the crash scene looking for help.

This was the exercise: A parkway visitor initiated the search after seeing a small, low-flying plane with engine problems just west of the parkway. As the plane flew out of his sight, he heard a possible explosion. A multi-jurisdictional incident management staff was assembled to handle the situation.

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