San Diego County conducted an emergency-response training exercise Thursday at McClellan-Palomar Airport.

During the drill, county airport staff, multiple public and private agencies and volunteers practiced what would happen if a commercial aircraft veered off the runway. The staging included debris strewn everywhere, dozens injured and several dead.

“So this drill ... is a testing of the emergency response system,” Palomar Operations Manager John Otto said. “Just in case there was an incident on the airport, we're practicing how we will respond to that incident.”

/ KPBS

It’s part of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirement for commercial airports. Although until this year, Palomar hadn’t had a commercial flight in more than 10 years, "we still perform these drills beca

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