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The Great Falls International Airport and the Montana Air National Guard teamed up on Wednesday to conduct disaster training.

The exercise scenario simulated a collision between a passenger plane and an F-15 fighter jet, resulting in four dead passengers and 44 people with injuries.

Some participants played the part of wounded people, complete with realistic makeup to simulate wounds and injuries, and they were sorted into categories by emergency responders based on the nature of their "injuries."

Darnell Stucker, assistant training chief with MT ANG, said, "It's about as realistic as we can possibly make it without putting the real things down as far as the fire. Today we had some smoke and we do have a real aircraft to use, which we don't get to have very often."

And while each person worked individually to save lives, the teamwork involved in the training goes a long way towards success.

Stucker noted, "With budget restraints and things like that, we don't always get to work with all these other entities. So when we do have an opportunity like this it really does build the team work up immensely."

And those involved say overall, the exercise went very well.

John Oldham, one of the simulated casualties, said, "They did a very good job. They secured the area, then they took care of the walking wounded and the victims that essentially needed to be repaired before dealing with the dead. It was a learning experience for everyone involved."

In a few weeks, the participating agencies will return to the airport for a meeting to discuss the exercise and conduct "lessons learned."

The training is required every three years for the airport, and every year for MT ANG; more than 20 agencies were involved in the exercise.