September 11 Probably Isn’t the Best Day To Do a Fire Drill At Logan Airport

Officials from the Massachusetts Port Authority, the agency that owns and runs Logan Airport, issued an apology on Wednesday for holding a fire-training drill on the airfield, the same day as the anniversary of the September 11 attack.

According to a statement:

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. 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. The airport community recognizes the day with moments of silence, a service in the chapel, and a wreath at the 9/11 memorial

As services across the country remembered the victims of the attack on September 11, 2001, Boston Logan Airport emergency responders conducted the drill on the tarmac, which included putting out a fire next to a replica of a small plane:

Questionable timing? Logan has airfield training today, surprising those seeing smoke pour from airport on 9/11 #wbz pic.twitter.com/NhxSE5ziw1

— Peter Wilson (@PetesWire) September 11, 2013

Governor Deval Patrick called out airport officials for not scheduling their exercise on a different day. “It’s just dumb. I mean the timing could not be worse,” he told the State House News Service.

Airport officials tweeted about the drill happening at Logan—performed dozens of times a year by burning a metal cylinder that resembles a fuselage—not long after tweeting their remembrance for 9/11:

Logan Airport representatives also posted an announcement on their official Facebook page, indicating that the fire department would be on the tarmac conducting the drill, which was immediately met by ire from those following their account on the social media site.

Some people didn’t seem to mind, however. One person wrote: “At least if someone tries something they will be in position. Probably beats some memorial that ties up our resources. As for being scary, the timid are probably not flying today.”

Calls to officials at the Massachusetts Port Authority were not immediately returned. Calls to the Boston Fire Department were also not returned.