Synthesis of Information Related to Airport Practices. Topic S04-30. Emergency Response Roles and Responsibilities for Non-Operational and Administrative Airport Staff

Airport Operations staff and first responders are well versed in how to respond to an airport emergency. However, the airport administrative and staff teams (non-operational positions, including executive leadership) who have a valuable role in emergency response or recovery, may not feel comfortable responding during a real emergency. Reasons for this may include that their emergency response role or responsibilities have not been identified, or they have completed emergency response training but haven’t put it into practice. Additionally, airport staff may be unable to provide training needed to prepare administrative teams to respond and recover from emergencies. While the Incident Command Structure outline responsibilities, the information doesn't translate smoothly to an administrative team’s understanding. Understanding their role can be especially important at smaller airports with fewer staff. The objective of this synthesis is to document the administrative and non-operational airport staff roles, responsibilities, and training programs that support emergency response and recovery. The audience for this synthesis are airport operators who train administrative staff to support emergency response and recovery functions. Information to be described in a concise report includes (but is not limited to): (1) A literature review that includes an overview of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the Incident Command System (ICS). (2) Identifying administrative and non-operational airport staff responsibilities and their role assisting in response and recovery efforts. (3) Identifying the expectations and training requirements for administrative and non-operational airport staff. (4) Identifying training plans and/or programs, including exercises for administrative and non-operational airport staff. (5) Case examples that highlight administrative and non-operational airport staff roles and responsibilities in response and recovery, including training and practices that prepare staff for emergencies Information will be collected through literature review, a survey of airports, and interviews with selected airports for the development of case examples. Knowledge gaps and suggestions for future research to address those gaps will also be identified.

• Record URL:
  • http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=5975

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $75,000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  Project 11-03, Topic S04-30

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Federal Aviation Administration

  800 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20591
• Managing Organizations:

  Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP)

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Project Managers:

  Christensen, Jordan

• Performing Organizations:
  ,    

  Emergency Management Partners

  city,    
• Principal Investigators:

  Felts, Kirby

• Start Date: 20260901
• Expected Completion Date: 20270901
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: Airport Cooperative Research Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Administrative personnel; Airports; Disasters and emergency operations; Incident management; Training
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Aviation; Education and Training; Security and Emergencies; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01970712
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project 11-03, Topic S04-30
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: Nov 10 2025 7:16PM