On September 9, 2023, the Sterling Volunteer Rescue Squad supported the Dulles Day Plane Pull 2023, at Dulles International Airport. The Dulles Day Plane Pull is an annual charity event featuring airfield tours, aircraft displays, vintage car displays, fire truck rides, exhibits and music performances. Since 1992, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) Police Department has sponsored the event, which benefits Special Olympics Virginia. The centerpiece of the day is the Plane Pull competition, where groups of up to 25 people use a long rope to see who can pull an 82 ton FedEx Boeing 757 or United Airlines Boeing 737 for 12 feet in the shortest period of time.
Sterling Rescue, operating under the MWAA Fire and Rescue Department, provided basic life support emergency medical services to the event, using Sterling Rescue’s special teams capability. Sterling Rescue provided its Gator Utility Task Vehicle (UTV) and three bike team personnel, to provide highly mobile support and augment MWAA Fire and Rescue’s aid station and ambulance capabilities. Sterling Rescue’s participants were Bike Team Lead Erik Hanna, Dan Ambrose, Rick Jackson, Kate Passow and Mike Seppala.
