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| Logan airport fire drill |
Of all the days to conduct a realistic fire at an airport, Sept. 11 seems like something of a poor choice.
The Massachusetts Port Authority is apologizing after conducting a fire drill that included smoke and flames at Boston’s Logan International Airport on Wednesday morning, the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
The realistic fire training drill took place shortly after 9:30 am. at the same airport where two of the planes used in the deadliest terrorist attacks on U.S. soil took off.
“Massport apologizes for conducting the fire training exercise and understands that it may have offended many of those touched by the events of Sept. 11,” the Port Authority said in a statement. “Safety and security is our top priority and constant vigilance and readiness is critical, but the exercise should not have taken place on the anniversary of 9/11.”
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick did not mince words when asked about the scheduling of the fire drill.
“I didn’t know it was going to happen, and it’s just dumb,” Patrick said. “The timing could not be worse.”
Of the 2,996 people killed in the 9/11 attacks, 206 had ties to Massachusetts, the Boston Globe reported.
“The people who experienced 9/11 — many of whom work at Massport — I just feel so sorry,” Patrick said.
