Chinks In The Armor?

It appears that the much loathed Washington ADIZ restrictions may already be receiving enough heat from outraged aviators (and the vast number of Americans who depend on them) that modifications/reducations to the original order are starting to appear... and for a change, it's (somewhat) good news.

FAA issued a revised NOTAM (3/1244) late Thursday exempting aircraft at non-towered airports from the ATC communication requirement in the recently activated Washington D.C. Metropolitan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). EAA's Dick "Eagle-Eye" Knapinski was one of the first to give us a heads-up on this, and noted that "...This action directly addresses EAA's main concern over flight safety at such facilities, which was aired at a meeting with FAA and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials on Monday in Washington, D.C."

At that meeting EAA, and others, argued that requiring aircraft in the traffic pattern at non-towered airports to remain in two-way communications with Approach Control created a safety breach since those aircraft are often not monitoring Unicom and CTAF, nor are they reporting their position to others. This, EAA's Washington Office Director Doug Macnair (right) said, created "an inherently unsafe situation and increased the risk of mid-air collision."

"We're pleased the FAA and TSA saw fit to make this change," said EAA Vice President of Government Relations Earl Lawrence. "It was an unsafe situation the way it was originally written. They did the right thing today."

Pilots in the ADIZ are reminded to to check with Flight Service before take-off, and to exercise extreme caution while flying in or around the DC ADIZ.

Current NOTAM:

3/1244 - PART 1 OF 4 FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS WASHINGTON DC. THIS IS A MODIFICATION OF INFORMATION PREVIOUSLY ISSUED IN FDC NOTAM 3/1106. EFFECTIVE 0302101100 UTC (0600 LOCAL 02/10/03) UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. PURSUANT TO 14 CFR SECTION 99.7, SPECIAL SECURITY INSTRUCTIONS; AND 91.139, EMERGENCY AIR TRAFFIC RULES; THE FOLLOWING PROCEDURES ARE IN EFFECT. PART I. DEFINITIONS. A. THE WASHINGTON DC METROPOLITAN AREA AIR DEFENSE IDENTIFICATION ZONE (DC ADIZ) FOR PURPOSES OF THIS NOTAM ONLY, IS THAT AREA OF AIRSPACE OVER THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH IN WHICH THE READY IDENTIFICATION, LOCATION, AND CONTROL OF AIRCRAFT IS REQUIRED IN THE INTERESTS OF NATIONAL SECURITY. SPECIFICALLY, THE DC ADIZ IS THAT AIRSPACE, FROM THE SURFACE TO BUT NOT INCLUDING FL180, WITHIN THE OUTER BOUNDARY OF THE WASHINGTON DC TRI-AREA CLASS B AIRSPACE AREA; AND THAT ADDITIONAL AIRSPACE CONTAINED WITHIN AN AREA BOUNDED BY A LINE BEGINNING AT 383712N/0773600W; THENCE COUNTER CLOCKWISE ALONG THE 30-MILE ARC OF THE DCA VOR/DME TO 384124 N/0762548W; THENCE WEST ALONG THE SOUTHERN BOUNDARY OF THE WASHINGTON DC TRI-AREA CLASS B AIRSPACE AREA TO THE POINT OF BEGINNING. END PART 1 OF 4 WIE UNTIL UFN

PART 2 OF 4 FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS WASHINGTON DC. B. THE WASHINGTON DC METROPOLITAN AREA FLIGHT RESTRICTED ZONE (FRZ) IS DEFINED AS AN AREA BOUNDED BY A LINE BEGINNING AT THE WASHINGTON (DCA) VOR/DME 300 DEGREE RADIAL AT 15 NM (385655N/0772008W) THENCE CLOCKWISE ALONG THE DCA 15 NM ARC TO THE DCA 022 DEGREE RADIAL AT 15 NM (390611N/0765751W) THENCE SOUTHEAST VIA A LINE DRAWN TO THE DCA 049 DEGREE RADIAL AT 14 NM (390218N/0765038W) THENCE SOUTH VIA A LINE DRAWN TO THE DCA 064 DEGREE RADIAL AT 13 NM (385901N/0764832W) THENCE CLOCKWISE ALONG THE DCA 13 NM ARC TO THE DCA 282 DEGREE RADIAL AT 13 NM (385214N/0771848W) THENCE NORTH VIA A LINE DRAWN TO THE POINT OF BEGINNING; EXCLUDING THE AIRSPACE WITHIN A 1 NM RADIUS OF FREEWAY AIRPORT (W00) MITCHELLVILLE, MD, FROM THE SURFACE UP TO BUT NOT INCLUDING FL180. THE FRZ IS WITHIN AND PART OF THE WASHINGTON DC METROPOLITAN ADIZ. PART II. THE FOLLOWING PROCEDURES APPLY WITHIN THE WASHINGTON DC METROPOLITAN ADIZ: A. EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN PART II. B., BELOW, NO PERSON MAY OPERATE AN AIRCRAFT, INCLUDING ULTRALIGHT VEHICLES, CIVIL AIRCRAFT, AND PUBLIC AIRCRAFT,IN THIS ADIZ, UNLESS, IN ADDITION TO ALL OTHER APPLICABLE RULES OF 14 CFR CHAPTER I, THE AI RCRAFT OPERATOR ENSURES THAT THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS ARE MET: END PART 2 OF 4 WIE UNTIL UFN

PART 3 OF 4 FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS WASHINGTON DC. 1. THE AIRCRAFT IS EQUIPPED WITH AN OPERABLE TWO-WAY RADIO CAPABLE OF COMMUNICATING WITH ATC ON APPROPRIATE RADIO FREQUENCIES; 2. THE FLIGHT CREW ESTABLISHES TWO-WAY RADIO COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE APPROPRIATE ATC FACILITY BEFORE OPERATING IN THIS ADIZ AND THE FLIGHT CREW MAINTAINS THE CAPABILITY OF CONTINUING TWO-WAY RADIO COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE APPROPRIATE ATC FACILITY WHILE OPERATING IN THIS ADIZ; AIRCRAFT OPERATING IN AN AIRPORT TRAFFIC PATTERN AT NON-TOWERED AIRPORTS ARE EXEMPT FROM THE ATC COMMUNICATION REQUIREMENT, PROVIDED THEY MONITOR THE AIRPORT CTAF. 3. THE FLIGHT CREW, PRIOR TO OPERATING WITHIN CLASS B, C, OR D AIRSPACE THAT IS WITHIN THIS ADIZ, RECEIVES A SEPARATE ATC CLEARANCE TO ENTER THE CLASS B, C, OR D AIRSPACE; 4. THE AIRCRAFT IS EQUIPPED WITH AN OPERATING TRANSPONDER WITH AUTOMATIC ALTITUDE REPORTING CAPABILITY AS SPECIFIED IN 14 CFR SECTION 91.215; 5. PRIOR TO OPERATING THE AIRCRAFT IN THIS ADIZ, THE FLIGHT CREW OBTAI NS A DISCRETE TRANSPONDER CODE FROM ATC; 6. THE AIRCRAFT''S TRANSPONDER CONTINOUSLY TRANSMITS THE ATC ISSUED DISCRETE CODE WHILE THE AIRCRAFT IS OPERATING IN THIS ADIZ; 7. PRIOR TO OPERATING AN AIRCRAF T IN THE DC ADIZ, PILOTS MUST FILE THEIR FLIGHT PLAN WITH AN AFSS; END PART 3 OF 4 WIE UNTIL UFN

PART 4 OF 4 FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS WASHINGTON DC. MUST ACTIVATE THEIR FLIGHT PLAN PRIOR TO DEPARTURE OR ENTERING THE DC ADIZ; AND CLOSE THEIR FLIGHT PLANS UPON LANDING OR LEAVING THE DC ADIZ. B. AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS BY THE U.S. MILITARY, LAW ENFORCEMENT, AND AEROMEDICAL FLIGHTS ARE EXEMPTED FROM THE REQUIREMENTS OF PART II A. PARAGRAPH 7. PART III. THE FOLLOWING PROCEDURES APPLY WITHIN THE WASHINGTON DC METROPOLITAN FRZ. A. UNLESS SPECIFICALLY AUTHORIZED BY THE FAA IN CONSULTATION WITH THE UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE AND THE TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, ALL PARTS 91, 101, 103, 105, 125, 133, 135, 137 FLIGHT OPERATIONS ARE PROHIBITED WITHIN THE WASHINGTON D.C. METROPOLITAN FRZ. B. THESE RESTRICTIONS DO NOT APPLY TO DOD, LAW ENFORCEMENT, OR AEROMEDICAL FLIGHT OPERATIONS THAT ARE IN CONTACT WITH ATC AND ARE DISPLAYING AN ATC ASSIGNED DISCRETE TRANSPONDER BEACON CODE. END PART 4 OF 4 WIE UNTIL UFN

FMI: www.faa.gov