CAA: GA News, "Smaller Airports Plan to Bolster Security, Awareness to Prevent Terrorism"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

September 18, 2001

Smaller Airports Plan to Bolster Security, Awareness to Prevent Terrorism
The State, Columbia, SC


A thin metal gate, an airport manager and a private pilot are virtually the
only defenses a community airfield has against terrorists and airplane
thieves.

Unlike big airports, small airfields don't usually have armed guards and
metal detectors.

But last week's suicide airplane attacks in New York and Washington have
increased awareness about the need to be more vigilant at small airfields.

The Federal Aviation Administration sent a warning to airfield operators
late last week, urging them to look for suspicious activity at small
airports catering to private planes, aerial charters and corporate jets.

Small airports receiving the notice included Columbia's Owens Field and the
Greenville Downtown Airport. South Carolina has more than 50 small public
airfields.

Pilots and airport managers say they'll heed the warning, particularly since
they don't have elaborate security systems to help.

Compared to commercial airports, such as Hartsfield International in Atlanta
and Columbia Metropolitan Airport, security at small airfields is often up
to the people who work as airport managers, pilots and mechanics. The
expense of sophisticated security systems makes it unlikely guards or metal
detectors will be used in many community airfields, airport managers and
consultants say.

"The best defense we have ... is for people in the field to keep their eyes
open and report any suspicious activity," said Joe Frasher, executive
director at the Greenville Downtown Airport.

Small airports in South Carolina began distributing FAA pamphlets last week
to pilots and others warning them to be on the lookout for pilots "under the
control of other persons."

"With this new offense of using an airplane itself as a bomb, it brings new
issues to question," said Jim Hamilton, the chief executive at Owens Field.

Hamilton said he'll continue to screen people who use the airport. Hamilton
said he requires pilots who want to rent a plane to pass a written test he
administers. He said he believes Owens Field is more secure than most small
airports because the Richland County Sheriff's Department operates aircraft
out of the facility and deputies are often there.

Still, small airports shouldn't take anything for granted, said Joe Saleeby,
former director of the state Aeronautics Commission.

"Everything is different today than it was," Saleeby said, referring to the
terrorist attacks. "Right now, I would say even the owners of small aircraft
and small general aviation airports need to be aware of what is going on."

Concerns about flights from Owens Field caused officials at USC to discuss
limiting planes over Williams-Brice Stadium during Carolina football games.

Aviation managers and consultants said they didn't know of anyone in South
Carolina taking a plane from a small airfield and crashing it intentionally.
But that has happened in other places.

Seven years ago, a former S.C. resident flew a plane from a small airfield
and crashed it onto the White House grounds. In 1976, a Maryland man smashed
his small plane into the upper deck of Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, just
hours after an NFL football game.

Some say an unstable person or terrorist could accomplish whatever he wants,
despite security. Last week, hijackers reportedly smuggled knives onto
commercial jets, which they later crashed into buildings in New York City
and Washington.

"You had a coordinated attack by madmen who don't value their own lives. How
do you regulate something like that?" said Phil Leventis, a veteran pilot
and S.C. state senator.

Nationally, there are about 13,000 small private airports and 4,800 small
public airfields, according to a recent General Accounting Office report.

Rich Roth, an airport security consultant from Maryland, said it's easier to
carry weapons -- whether legal or illegal -- onto small jets at airfields.

"No one is checking your bag. You can carry anything you want."

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