CAA: GA News, "Private Planes at Risk: General Aviation Airfields Still Lack Tightened Security"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Tuesday, September 3, 2002

Private Planes at Risk
General Aviation Airfields Still Lack Tightened Security
By Brian Ross
ABC News


One year after 19 people hijacked airplanes, flying them into the World
Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, security has not been
improved at the country's small general aviation airports, an ABCNEWS
investigation has found.
 
Thousands of planes at hundreds of airports are still vulnerable to
being stolen or hijacked.

John McClure's single engine Cessna plane was stolen on July 3 from an
unguarded field in Tahoe, Calif., and hasn't been seen since.

"We got here little after 3 (p.m.), we drove in," recalled McClure, "and
I thought, 'Where's my plane?'"

McClure's plane was one of seven planes stolen from small American
airfields this year - and the second this summer. Under a new policy,
the theft is being reported to the Secret Service and investigated by
the FBI.

The FBI issued a nationwide alert the same day McClure's plane was
stolen, warning that with improved security at large airports,
"terrorists may choose to rent or steal general aviation aircraft housed
at small airports with little or no security." 

"I think we're finally getting to the point where we know that stolen
airplanes are a serious problem in this country, as far as the
government's concerned," said Bob Collins, the president of the Aviation
Crime Prevention Institute. "Where in the past, the FBI couldn't become
involved unless it was above a certain value. Now that's changed. 

"All planes have become targets," he added. 

Weak Link

"Unfortunately, we have disclosed the possibility of terrorists looking
at our weakest link. When you have tens of thousands of aircrafts
sitting on numerous airfields and general aviation facilities around the
country, we are at risk," Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., the chairman of
Congress' Subcommittee on Aviation, told ABCNEWS.

Even so, as Terry Florie discovered when his single engine Cessna plane
was stolen from an Augusta, Ga., field in June, security around private
aircraft has not been upgraded since Sept. 11. 

"It generally shuts down around dark and opens back up around 7 the next
morning," said Florie. "So generally there's nobody here between dark
and about 7 a.m." 

Security is much the same at small fields across the country. And
despite the threat, the Federal Aviation Administration continues to
issue pilot's licenses without photos, making for easy access to
airplanes that pilots say would take no more than a minute or two to
steal.

"You basically pick a lock to get into the plane, hotwire it and start
it up and away you go," explained McClure. "The hardest part you need to
know is how to fly it." 

Planes Have Potential to be Damaging 

The damage from a single-engine suicide plane attack would not likely be
catastrophic. There was little structural damage when a 15-year-old
student pilot flew his plane into a Tampa office building, killing
himself, last January.

But if a plane were loaded with explosives or chemicals, officials say
it could still make a powerful political statement aimed at a symbolic
target.

"One of my fears is that they'll use one of these for a spectacular
event against a large population centered at a sporting event or some
other attraction," said Mica. "And that's a real concern for me." 

While officials suspect many of the stolen planes are flown to Mexico
and chopped up for parts, officials are well aware these are just the
kinds of planes the September hijackers trained on and had initially
planned to use in their suicide attacks.

Attached Photo:

Seven small planes, including Cessnas like the one pictured here, have
been stolen from small American airfields this year.

cessna.jpg