CAA: GA News, "Order grounds Colorado's Jeffco planes"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Wednesday, October 31, 2001

Order grounds Jeffco planes 
By Katie Ford 
Associated Press


BROOMFIELD - Planes at the Jefferson County Airport were grounded
Tuesday afternoon, after the airport received notice that flying within
an 11-mile radius of nuclear facilities is now restricted. 

The Federal Aviation Administration has temporarily banned private
planes from flying near nuclear power plants after Attorney General John
Ashcroft warned of possible new terrorist attacks. 

The Jeffco airport was affected because of its proximity to former
nuclear bomb plant Rocky Flats. 

"We are about 85 percent closed for business," said Jeffco airport
manager Jeff Price. 

The restrictions, issued without any prior notice at 1:20 p.m. Tuesday,
will be in place through Nov. 7 and include exceptions for medical, law
enforcement, rescue, emergency evacuation and firefighting operations. 

The FAA imposed the ban "for reasons of national security" around 86
nuclear plants and other nuclear sites. 

"A small, general-aviation aircraft is not a significant risk to a
nuclear facility," said Warren Morningstar, a spokesman for the Aircraft
Owners and Pilots Association. "On the other hand, we also have to
accept that there are serious national security threats, and we will do
our best to protect the nation and keep people safe." 

Price said the Jeffco airport's control tower personnel received
notification from the FAA that charter companies will still be able to
fly. The restrictions also do not apply to commercial planes, which fly
at higher altitudes. 

He said the airport is working with the FAA and the Colorado Division of
Aeronautics to see if there will be exceptions for Jeffco because Rocky
Flats is closed. 

"This could represent a significant economic impact to businesses around
the field," Price said. 

Gary Hulme, co-owner of McAir Aviation, a flight school near Jeffco,
said the restrictions will hurt his business. 

"It's going to have a major impact on 25 employees and families," he
said. 

The flight school will continue to conduct ground training and simulator
training, he said. 

Mary Hammack, office manager for Windsong Aviation, said the school will
also use the down time to do ground and flight-simulator training. 

"It will definitely have an impact on us," she said. "It will hurt
business." 

Flight schools near Jeffco have been slowly recovering from the effects
of being grounded for 12 days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 

Jeffco Flight School was a week from bankruptcy when the FAA lifted
restrictions allowing instructors to fly students again, said chief
instructor Elliott Arthur in an interview on Monday. Arthur could not be
reached for comment Tuesday night. 

Since Sept. 11, the school has cut back its staff from 11 instructors to
three contracted instructors and from five administrative staff members
to two. The school now has three airplanes, down from 10 before the
attacks. 

In the 12 days after the attacks, business was down 98 percent, Arthur
said. 

"It's been a painful situation," he said. "I had to let people go that
I've spent months and years training." 

Immediately after the attacks, the FAA placed restrictions on training
flights. Flight schools were inoperable for 12 days until those
restrictions were lifted. Last week, the FAA opened the skies over
Denver and 11 more cities to all private planes, leaving only
Washington, D.C., New York City and Boston with limits on small
aircraft. 

Before the restrictions on airports near nuclear facilities were
announced Tuesday, business at Jeffco Flight School was back up to 55
percent, Arthur said. 

He said more restrictions could shut the school down.

   Post your opinion on this story in the CAA General Aviation Forum
http://www.californiaaviation.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?conf=DCConfID2

*****************************************