New Restrictions on Air Travel

[David Farber <farber () tmail com>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Mikki Barry <ooblick () netpolicy com>
To: dave () farber net
Subject: New Restrictions on Air Travel
Date: Sun, 09 Feb 2003 15:47:34 -0500

I've been a pilot since 1995 and a flight instructor since 1997.  Used
to be I could hop into the airplane, not bother to talk to anyone, and
as long as I stayed out of restricted airspace, I could fly up to 
visit
friends in NJ, family in NH, or almost anywhere else I wanted  with
no problem at all.  It was part of our right to travel, similar to 
getting
into my car and going where I want to as long as I obey the traffic 
rules.

New rules restricting the airspace within 30 miles of Washington, DC 
go
into effect starting at 0600 tomorrow.  However, NOBODY is available 
to
answer questions that people might have in ANY department in the
government.  Pilots have been trying since yesterday to contact people
in charge at the TSA, but nobody is answering.  Flight Service
Stations, the places that pilots call for filing the flight plans
necessary to comply with these new rules, have not been told how to
handle the traffic.  Local towers who are responsible for assigning 
the
new codes necessary to comply with the rules, have no idea how to
proceed.

Thousands of people in this area are pilots.  Hundreds if not 
thousands
are currently flight students.  People who have spent thousands of
dollars so far towards getting their pilot's licenses are now not
allowed to continue their training.  When it can resume, nobody is
quite sure.  In fact, nobody is even sure that flight training WON'T 
be
allowed, but until someone specifically says it's ok, people aren't
willing to risk being shot down by F-16s.  And nobody knows if these
new regulations go away if the threat level is lowered.

To make matters worse, the 3 closest airports to the Capitol, even 
though all pilots
based there have been fingerprinted and background checked and given 
special secret
codes to get in and out of airspace, are now required to land at an 
airport in Annapolis, Maryland before they come back to their home 
field, so they can be frisked by TSA personnel.  Doesn't matter if you 
are in your plane with your husband and child, you have to be frisked.  
Just to go home.  Of course, TSA personnel will be at those airports to 
frisk these pilots, passengers and their aircraft before they take off.  
We may be back to the days when the TSA takes screwdrivers and 
leathermen tools away from pilots in case they hijack themselves.

Remember that small airplanes can't carry that much weight and 
actually
get off the ground.  Remember that small airplanes have crashed into
buildings before and caused hardly any damage at all.  Remember that
small airplanes are generally operated by people taking their families
somewhere.  Remember that small airplanes were not used in any way for
the terrorism that is supposedly the trigger for all of this.  
Remember
that small airplanes, unlike cars, have to have specific long strips 
of
asphalt to land and take off from.  And remember that the "bad guys"
don't care about the rules and won't obey them anyway.

Meantime, the FAA has said that the DC airspace is going to be the
model for the nation.  This means that these restrictions will soon
arrive at an airport near you.  How does this affect non pilots?  
We've
all been hearing about how the Air Traffic Control system is
overloaded, and how delays are system wide and getting worse.  The TSA
has just added nearly ONE MILLION yearly operations to the load
of only the Washington, DC area controllers.  In the past, these
operations were completed without ever having to bother ATC.  95% of
all aircraft operated in the United States are general aviation
aircraft.  The vast majority of those are currently NOT required to
contact ATC.  The system WILL collapse if suddenly, overnight, they 
are
all required to ask ATC for transponder codes and establish
communication in order to fly. There are over 630,000 pilots in the
United States operating over 210,000 general aviation aircraft.  70% 
of
these flights are under VFR or Visual Flight Rules and are not using
ATC services.

Anyone trying to get anywhere by air will be impacted.  Anyone picking
up or dropping off passengers at airports will be impacted.  And will
terrorism be averted by these new restrictions on private travel?  
When
you consider that NO terrorist acts in the world have been committed 
by
use of general aviation aircraft, I would doubt it.  It is VASTLY
disturbing that those methods of terrorism that HAVE been employed
(i.e. small boats with the USS Cole and the landing of a Cuban Coast
Guard boat in Key West (although not terrorism, it very well could 
have
been), cars and trucks in various bombings that have killed hundreds
(trucks have been prohibited from the immediate White House, Capitol
and Pentagon areas, but that's all), and pedestrian travel (suicide
bombers) has not been addressed.

In the Commonwealth of Virginia, I received my concealed carry weapons
permit this week.  To get it, I had to take a one night course and 
take
a criminal background check.  I am now authorized to roam around most
areas of the state with a loaded weapon.  In order to get a pilot's
license I was required to take a minimum of 60 hours flight time, at a
cost of thousands of dollars, learn a vast array of FAA regulations,
learn how to properly navigate, learn airport procedures, take a
medical examination, provide my medical history and criminal record 
(if
any), and keep this information updated on a regular basis.    The FAA
must know my current address at all times.  The FAA or law enforcement
officials can ask for pertinent paperwork at any point (much like
providing my license and registration) when I land or want to take off
from anywhere.  Even without discreet transponder codes, I can be
tracked by various radar facilities from the time I am rolling down 
the
runway until the time I touch down elsewhere.  The DC Snipers caused
more terror with a single rifle and a car than I possibly could with 
my
aircraft, yet which is more regulated?

And why is it that the government is so quick to infringe the rights 
of
pilots and their general aviation passengers?  Because they can.  The
vast majority of Americans haven't heard of these new restrictions, or
if they have, they aren't aware of what they mean.  Those who do
understand aren't concerned because they don't see it as affecting 
them
directly (until or unless they want to take a commercial flight).
Therefore, general aviation is an easy target.  The next targets will
likely also be "easy targets."  One by one, we will watch the "easy
targets" fall with nary a whimper.
-- Dave

-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com
To unsubscribe or update your address, click
 http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/