CAA: GA News, "FAA Weighs Easing Small-Plane Curbs"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Tuesday, October 2, 2001

FAA Weighs Easing Small-Plane Curbs 
Stranded Aircraft Could Be Removed From Airports in 2 No-Fly Zones 
By Don Phillips and Sara Kehaulani Goo
The Washington (DC) Post


The Federal Aviation Administration said yesterday that it is
considering a plan to temporarily allow small private planes that have
been grounded in the Washington and New York areas since the Sept. 11
suicide hijackings to move out of the restricted areas starting Friday.

While commercial airline operations are gradually getting back to
normal, general-aviation aircraft -- smaller planes that are not
commercial or military -- still operate under tight restrictions that
have prevented more than 41,000 planes from flying. The grounding has
placed airports that cater to general aviation in danger of bankruptcy
and led to layoffs and shutdowns in the aviation manufacturing business.

For instance, New Piper Aircraft Inc. is in the middle of a two-week
shutdown because the flying restrictions mean it cannot deliver new
planes, and it has run out of storage space, according to Shelly Snyder
Simi, vice president of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association.

In addition, foreign-registered general-aviation aircraft -- including
Canadian and Mexican planes -- are forbidden to fly into U.S. airspace,
which has created problems for companies that do a lot of business with
the United States, according to Simi.

Many small-plane pilots are frustrated because a hodgepodge of security
rules has produced inconsistent policies. For instance, student pilots
are allowed to fly solo in restricted areas as part of their flight
training, but their flight instructors are forbidden to fly unless the
student is in the plane.

"This is absurd," said Phil Boyer, president of the Aircraft Owners and
Pilots Association, in a message on the group's Web site.

The activities of general-aviation aircraft are currently controlled in
two ways. The Department of Transportation has restricted all
general-aviation aircraft within 25 nautical miles (about 29 miles) of
Washington's Reagan National and New York's John F. Kennedy
International airports.

In addition, there are restrictions around other major cities, although
they are not as strict as those for Washington and New York. In those
places, planes can fly under instrument flight rules -- generally
meaning they are under the control of air traffic controllers. But no
flights are allowed under "visual flight rules," meaning low-level
flights with the pilot solely responsible for avoiding other aircraft.

To assist pilots in the Washington and New York areas, the FAA is
circulating a draft plan that would allow them to move to unrestricted
areas. The plan specifies time periods between Friday and Tuesday when
planes could leave airports within the no-fly zone. A flight plan would
first have to be filed with air traffic controllers. Planes would not be
allowed to arrive at airports in the no-fly zone. After Tuesday, the
no-fly zone would be restored. The plan would also need the approval of
the FBI and the National Security Council.

Several managers of regional-aviation airports said they are happy that
the FAA wants to lift some restrictions on Friday, but they said the
proposal would help only the stranded pilots, not the small airports
that serve general-aviation planes. Several airports have already laid
off several dozen employees or sharply reduced their hours of operation.

It's "good for the transient people who were trapped here," said Lee
Schiek, manager of College Park Airport. "On the flip side, it concerns
me. It takes the pressure off of decision makers on the long-term
decision" about the no-fly zone. "We still have people who are
economically dying out here."

If general-aviation planes are allowed to depart, Montgomery County
Airpark manager Wendy C. Carter said, she expects 70 planes to leave.
But that wouldn't help the situation at the airport, where only a dozen
of the airport's 81 employees are still working.

In fact, Carter said the plan would create more problems for the
region's general-aviation airports because the owners of many planes
grounded within the 25-mile zone would rush to move their aircraft. "We
think we are unfairly singled out," Carter said.

"We want the same air space availability that everyone else has." Citing
the three weeks of restrictions, Carter said: "I've become angry. I've
gone from being frustrated to being angry."

Officials of airports outside the no-fly zone said they have received
dozens of calls from pilots interested in moving their planes. Charlie
Abell, airport manager at Frederick Municipal Airport in Maryland, said
he is expecting 100 planes from Gaithersburg, Bowie, College Park and
Annapolis.

"We've asked the FAA air traffic folks to look into getting us a
temporary tower in anticipating that we'd get a lot of aircraft here,"
Abell said.

Doug McNeeley, airport director of Leesburg Executive Airport, which is
outside the restricted area, said pilots will likely want to move their
planes to his airport and others nearby, but he has limited space for
additional aircraft.

He said he has 166 planes on a waiting list for long-term parking space.
"When we're out of those [spaces], that will pretty much be it for
general aviation," McNeeley said. When the available space fills up, he
said, "there will be no choice but to tell them we can't accommodate
them."

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http://www.californiaaviation.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?conf=DCConfID2

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