GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Smoke poured across the runway. Emergency vehicles raced toward a disabled aircraft. Dozens of injured passengers screamed for help. Thankfully, none of it was real.
The Gerald R. Ford International Airport staged a massive mock disaster drill Wednesday, simulating a full-scale aircraft emergency designed to test how first responders across Kent County would react if the unthinkable ever happened at GRR.
The exercise, required by the Federal Aviation Administration every three years for larger airports, involved live fire, smoke and emergency crews…