CAA: GA News, "Private pilots pushing to get planes off ground"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Friday, September 28, 2001

Private pilots pushing to get planes off ground
By Richard Wronski
The Chicago (IL) Tribune


At least a thousand small private planes are still grounded in the
Chicago area due to security concerns, more than two weeks after the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and national pilots organizations say their
members are growing impatient.

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association is lobbying the Federal
Aviation Administration to "free the GA 41,000," the number of general
aviation planes it says are "trapped" in restricted airspace around
O'Hare International Airport and at 29 other locations around the U.S.

Warren Morningstar, a spokesman for AOPA, estimated that as many as
1,600 planes are grounded at 10 Chicago-area airports. Most of these
planes are used for business or personal transportation as well as
recreationally, he said.

"These pilots are frustrated" while waiting for the FAA and national
security officials to work out safety concerns, said Morningstar, whose
375,000-member group is the largest U.S. pilots association.

Along with its practical benefits, many pilots feel that flying is a
treasured privilege and a symbol of American freedom. The government,
meanwhile, wrestles with such issues as airport security and the threat
that small aircraft--loosely regulated and difficult to track--could
pose in the wrong hands.

The private planes were caught on the ground when the FAA imposed the
"enhanced" airspace restriction around O'Hare in the wake of the Sept.
11 tragedy.

The restricted area covers a roughly 28-mile radius, affecting airports
from northwest suburban Lake in the Hills to Lewis University Airport in
Joliet. Palwaukee, Schaumburg, Midway, Meigs and DuPage Airports are
included.

Ron Liebmann, president of the Barrington chapter of the Experimental
Aircraft Association, said most private pilots were willing to take
steps to make the skies safer, but at the same time, are anxiously
awaiting word from the pilot organizations on when they can fly again.

"They are working with the FAA to come up with solution to guarantee
safety," he said. "That's what we all want."

Leaders of the 170,000-member Experimental Aircraft Association also
called for opening up the restricted airspace.

Airport officials, meanwhile, say they have stepped up security by
installing additional fencing, restricting access, requiring personnel
to wear IDs and bolstering police presence.

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