ANN Readers are really PO'ed and continue to send record
amounts of e-mail (thousands...) to us over the matter. Here's
a few more samples...
Message(s) Sent To CBS
Congratulations. You
have proven once again that the terrorists are winning - with your
help.
The primary purpose of terrorism is not to win wars outright. It
is to create terror within their enemy. And thereby cause their
enemy to collapse from within. Last evenings Evening News does a
great job in promoting this terror. Never mind that the piece was
full of incorrect "facts" and no real expert on GA and its relation
to terror was consulted in its preparation. Never mind that no
small GA aircraft has ever, anywhere in the world, been used as an
instrument of terror (except as in pieces such as was aired by your
network last evening).
Never mind that there is more security associated with GA
aircraft and airports than there is with rental cars and trucks or
your own car in your own garage or parked in your driveway or on
the street. Your piece on GA was intended to cause concern and
terror amongst your viewers with respect to the (practically
non-existent) possibility that the next small GA aircraft they see
flying overhead could be a terrorist on a mission to do great harm
to our national security. What more could the terrorists ask for
than for CBS Evening News to spread terror amongst it viewers? And
they didn't even have to blow up one ounce of explosive to achieve
their purpose. Plant the seed of fear in the likes of one
irresponsible paranoid network news reporter and let the media
spread terror amongst its viewers. Terror can be generated just as
surely this way as it can by flying large air transport aircraft
into tall buildings. It is the object of terrorist to create
terror, and they are succeeding with your help.
Wilbur Young
To The Editors At CBS
I am appalled by your company's poor reporting and broadcasting
about the threat of general aviation to our country. The lack of
sources from the government, security officials, and GA community
makes your piece heavily bias showing complete disregard for good
journalism. Our government's top security experts have repeatedly
said that due to their size, slow speed, and limited payload, GA
aircraft pose little to no threat. But even if they did, our
nation's most sensitive places are surrounded by "airborne"
fences... fences that are enforced by patrolling military jets and
anti-aircraft missiles in some cases. So lets talk about how this
is more dangerous than U-Haul or other truck rental companies. Lets
talk about how all you need is a fake ID to rent one. How about the
fact that you can park it a truck full of two tons of weapons in
front of any important building in Washington, including the
President's home. Let's compare this to the constant radar
monitoring and tracking of every airborne object in the world by
NORAD and the fact that it takes a background check and many months
of training to fly a plane.
Clearly these are things that your Real Estate expert should
have known and mentioned...to have at the very least a balanced
report.
You have lost a viewer.
Eric Steelberg
Greetings (To CBS)
I would like to voice my sincere disappointment at the piece you
aired the other night about terrorism and General Aviation. I have
a unique perspective on the issue, as I sat and watched the story
at my place of work in the middle east, while serving my third tour
over here since September 11th with the Air National Guard. I can't
explain my disappointment with your news agency which I regard as
otherwise credible. You aired a sensationalized story, and have
since lost most of that credibility in my eyes. As someone who has
sacrificed a LOT to defend the freedoms we enjoy, and as an avid
recreational pilot, I feel completely betrayed.
The extent to which you have inferred that GA be regulated,
while lacking any factual or statistical basis, negates anything
for which myself and my co-workers risk our lives daily. Beyond
that, it was just plain uninformed journalism.
Finally, about that car you drive... it could both conceal and
deliver a bomb. I suggest you build a fence around your garage, and
search anybody who enters the premises. Besides the obvious threat,
you also have a driveway that connects directly to a road, which in
turn could deliver you to any large building, gathering place, or
landmark. On second though, armed guards and metal detectors are
next for your front doorstep. And while you continue to drive that
huge payload SUV, News Van, Mercedes or BMW (heck, you probably
arrive everywhere via Limousine... lots of cargo room there...),
I'll gladly continue to defend that freedom for you.
Get your facts straight. General Aviation is safe, and is
perpetuated by the best group of people I've had the pleasure to
call my friends.
Pat Wright
To ANN/Jim,
Has anyone considered that CBS News intended to slant the truth
for the sake of viewer ratings? I can't think of a better way to
trick the viewers, especially GA pilots to watch yellow journalism
at it's finest.
It makes me wonder who's agenda they are supporting (the
airlines???). It certainly isn't the tax paying, law abiding
American citizens who make their living in general aviation. It is
an insult and a slap in the face.
Thanks for a great newsletter,
Mike Denest
Dear Sir or Madam (CBS)
I was greatly disappointed last night to learn that CBS News has
sunk to the level of supermarket tabloid journalism. Your piece on
General Aviation, last night was nothing but shameful
sensationalism. It so misrepresented the truth about General
Aviation that it calls into question any and all information I have
ever received from your network. How could you even pretend to do a
fair and balanced story on General Aviation without including an
interview with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, which
has as members two thirds of all pilots in this country. Your piece
was so devoid of real journalism that I was left wondering if it
was just pure sensationalism or if their was some hidden agenda,
that has nothing to do with terrorism.
Yes, terrorists could possible use a General Aviation aircraft
as weapon someday.
Just as any means of transportation can be used as a weapon.
Let me ask you this; given that the average family automobile
can be used to deliver 3 to 5 times the destructive energy of the
typical General Aviation aircraft.
Why don't you run the same piece on private automobiles. After
all they move about with no restrictions, nobody screens the driver
or passengers or luggage, when not being used they are not kept
inside secured areas. Given these facts would you run the same
story on private automobiles. Or how about private boats.
I have a small 17 foot speedboat and it can carry more than
twice the load of explosives that my airplane can. It would be much
more effective at bringing down a bridge then my airplane. Will you
run a story about marinas and the terrorist threat they represent.
The bottom line is that everything you said about private aircraft
is also true of private automobiles and private boats. The only
difference is that the average car or boat is a significantly more
effective weapon. They are easier to obtain, requires less training
to operate and are subject to far less regulation and scrutiny.
Perhaps these are some the reasons terrorists have a history of
using cars, trucks and boats. But they have never used General
Aviation aircraft!
I do not purchase supermarket tabloids, nor do I purchase the
products they advertise. Likewise I will no longer be watching CBS
News nor purchasing the products that support it. I will be
contacting your sponsors to let them know that you have lost all
credibility as a news source and that I will be getting my news
somewhere else. I noted the following products being advertised
last night; Campbell’s Soup, OneTouch Ultra, Fosamax,
Centrum, and BreatheRight. Their manufactures and distributors will
be hearing from me.
Bill Kelley
Dear CBS,
I thought your job was to report news, not create
sensationalized fiction. It seems to me that CBS already has
an entertainment division. The piece your aired last night
was the biggest piece of mis-information that I've ever seen.
As an active GA pilot I can assure you that you completely
overstated the threat posed by GA to the country. If you had
bothered to consult some reputable aviation sources you would have
learned that. Or perhaps you did and didn't like the truth so
you omitted it in a blatant attempt to grab ratings. I live
in Tampa and have significant knowledge concerning the Fall 01
crash of the Cessna 172 by the teen student pilot into the bank
downtown. That event only managed to damage a single
office. You fail to mention that anyone can rent a truck and
fill it with 10 times the amount of explosive that a GA plane can
carry and drive up to just about any building in the US and cause
significantly more damage. Does Oklahoma City ring a
bell? How about the first attack on the World Trade
Center. I suggest that before you yell fire in the theater
again that you be damn sure that you see the flames.
Todd Stovall
How Can That Be?
For CBS to descend into Jingoism is disappointing but
predictable. Ice skates can be used as weapons, should we call for
national registration of ice skates? Cars and trucks are the
vehicles of choice in delivering bombs as political statements,
where is the hue and cry for security measures against ground-based
motor vehicles?
Pandering to groups who believe their righteous indignation the
equivalent of an education is the lowest form of communication. I
am disgusted though not surprised that Dan Rather's news
organization has decided to target General Aviation to build its
and the network's ratings. Can you not find a drug company, a
banking organization, an arm of government or the armed forces to
publicly skewer for your sole benefit?
Show business was never supposed to compete with the Constitution,
however as Dick Cheney pointed out in reference to the deficit,
"Ronald Reagan proved it doesn't matter." Apparently the freedoms
this country has fought wars for, expended lives over, are items in
a spread sheet. Shame on you.
Richard Herbst
Gentlemen or Ladies -- as the case may be
(CBS)
Your show about the terrorist threat of general
aviation was obviously an attempt to create sensationalism at the
expense of the aviation community. Who ever was responsible for
this gross distortion of the facts is both dangerous, and
uninformed. How could anyone be so stupid as to point to
small air craft for a possible threat, while ignoring the millions
of 40' tractor trailers, containers, and rental trucks swarming the
roads of this country.
The weight carrying capacity of a light aircraft is
a tiny fraction of what even a pickup truck can carry.
While there has never been a case of a light
aircraft being used for attacking anything, I would draw your
attention to the attacks on the federal building in Oklahoma City
and the first bombing of the World Trade Center. Have you bothered
to notice that the words "plane bombing" don't seem to pop up
much in the news, while the stories of "car bombings" are an
every day occurrence. The use of car, and truck bombs are the
trademark of the terrorist culture. Why would they change a
successful tactic and start a new one??
I used to frequent your network often, but since
you have chosen to go use sensationalism rather than well
documented journalism I will only watch CBS when the 49ers are
playing there. I am a part time general aviation flight instructor
aged 65, and I have been teaching people to fly for 35 years. I
have a god feel for the airport where I practice my trade. There
are very few air planes stolen from our very busy field. I know of
only 4 in the past 35 years, this compared to the hundreds of cars
and trucks that disappear daily in our county.
You fools are alienating a large segment of the
thinking people of this nation, by trying to spook the non
thinkers.
Good luck to you, we of the thinking population of
the USA, reject your sad attempt to pad your slipping ratings.
Al Blachman