CAA: GA News, "Flying restrictions more complex following Sept. 11 attacks"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Sunday, December 2, 2001

Flying restrictions more complex following Sept. 11 attacks
By RICHARD L. SMITH
The Waco (TX) Tribune-Herald


Aviation experts say that flying can be tricky these days for private
pilots. 

Such is the case in an area of Central Texas that is designated by the
Federal Aviation Administration as "P-49." The designation is for the
prohibited airspace within a 3-nautical mile radius of President Bush's
ranch near Crawford. Several private pilots who have recently strayed
into that prohibited airspace quickly found themselves surrounded by
armed fighter jets. 

Pilots were already responsible for knowing where they were in the air
before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. Now in the post-Sept. 11 days,
being aware could be a matter of life and death. Information on
restricted airspace is available for all pilots. But that information
also rapidly changes. Those changes can be trying for pilots. The
changes can also affect businesses on the ground. 

Fighter jets intercepted and escorted two private planes to landings
during the president's last visit to his ranch in the middle of
November. Russian President Vladimir Putin had also visited the
president at the ranch last month. Another incident happened on Sept. 13
after a Waco man who borrowed a plane for a local recreational flight
took off from a private airstrip off Highway 6. That pilot was also
surrounded by fighters and escorted until landing. 

Jim Allmon is president of Aurora Aviation, a general aviation service
business at McGregor Executive Airport. His business provides services
including flight training, maintenance for private aircraft and aviation
fuel. Allmon said one of the more recent errant flights over the Bush
ranch may have been due to the government temporarily expanding the area
of the prohibited airspace while the president was visiting. 

"They expanded the airspace to 15 miles with little or no notice to
anyone," said Allmon. 

Allmon said he was aware of this because when the restricted airspace
was expanded for five days during Bush's visit, planes were unable to
take off or land at the McGregor airport. The same was true for the
Gatesville airport. 

"The big problem was a lot of pilots didn't know about it," said Pete
Weston, owner of Centex Aviation at the Gatesville airport. 

Both Allmon and Weston said they understand Bush needs security whenever
he is in Crawford. But the men also worry that expanding the airspace
when he visits might put them out of business. Allmon said he alone lost
$20,000 in fuel sales and other revenue from the airport being closed. 

"If they keep doing it, we might as well shut down," said Allmon. 

The Secret Service, the agency responsible for presidential protection,
also directs the FAA to restrict airspace where the president may be. A
spokesman for the agency's Dallas office said they do not discuss
presidential protection tactics. 

Active and reserve military pilots are patrolling the skies of America
looking for both commercial and private aircraft that stray into areas
such as P-49 or over other restricted airspace such as that surrounding
nuclear power plants. Some of the patrols in Texas are being made by the
147th Fighter Wing of the Texas Air National Guard flying F-16C Fighting
Falcon fighter jets out of Ellington Field in Houston. 

"They primarily patrol and interdict," said Army National Guard Sgt. Ken
Robinson, a Guard spokesman in Austin. "They also have a full-time
mission patrolling the southern airspace that goes over the Gulf of
Mexico. We already had folks doing that mission but since Sept. 11 we've
had more flight hours." 

The fighter planes have the authority to shoot down wayward planes if
military officials determine there is a threat. 

"Never before Sept. 11 was there explicit authority for the military to
shoot down aircraft in domestic airspace," said Warren Morningstar, a
spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association based in
Frederick, Md. The organization lobbies for about half of the nation's
pilots. "They now have that authority." 

There are several reasons that pilots may inadvertently stray into
restricted airspace, said Roland Herwig, an FAA spokesman for the region
that includes Texas. 

"It may be a lack of being able to navigate and knowing where you are,"
he said. "The weather may be a factor in some cases or it may be an
emergency situation." 

Another reason pilots may stray is because they have not read required
reading before flying, the "Notices to Airmen" or "NOTAMs." Pilots are
responsible for reading these notices that contain information such as
airspace restrictions before flying. NOTAMs are available by phone when
pilots get weather briefings and certain ones can be found on an FAA Web
site. 

"In the post-Sept. 11 environment it has become much more complex for
pilots," said Morningstar. "What happens is the airspace where you can
fly changes almost constantly. For the pilots, I'd say that it's a
different environment out there. You need to get your NOTAMs." 

However, Morningstar said the FAA also has an antiquated system of
distributing certain NOTAMs, especially ones that are site-specific for
airports. He said that if he to flew from Maryland to Waco, he would
have to call each airport where he planned to stop to see if there was a
local notice of which he should be aware. 

"We have been critical of the FAA information system for years - how
it's transmitted, how it's coded and how it's made available," he said.
"What has happened since Sept. 11 has exacerbated the weaknesses in the
system. It was designed to operate, literally, in the days of
teletypes." 

Those pilots who violate airspace can face various fines and penalties
if an investigation determines that they were willingly flying over
restricted areas, said the FAA's Herwig. Of course, that seems
inconsequential when considering that planes could be shot out of the
sky. However, Morningstar thinks that scenario is unlikely. 

"There is that risk," he said. "But I think it's a small risk. The guys
flying the fighters don't want to shoot anyone down."


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