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Emergency Drill Held At Newark Airport

NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Don't be concerned if you saw smoke and plenty of emergency vehicles at Newark Liberty International Airport Saturday evening.

The emergency drill, that tested emergency response to devastating scenarios, did not impact the airport's flight operations, authorities said.

"We believe that practice makes perfect," Chief Louie Koumoutsos said.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said Saturday's drill was designed to allow airport and local emergency responders to train together, 1010 WINS reported.

"I think it makes people comforted to know the port authority takes this seriously," Deputy Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Deb Gramiccioni said.

As CBS 2's Dave Carlin reported, nine months of planning went into the yearly event, with about 500 people taking part.

The goal for responders was to get to the plane within three minutes after impact—which appeared to go according to plan. Detailed evaluations will come later.

"We do an after action report to gauge the response and how well we did," Koumoutsos said.

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