Mon, Jan 01, 2007
Pilot Busted Restricted Airspace Twice Prompting Calls To
NORAD
A man flying an as yet
unidentified "small plane" flew into restricted airspace near
President Bush's Crawford Ranch in central Texas not once, but
twice on Sunday.
KWTX reports the second violation prompted calls to North
American Aerospace Defense Command who scrambled fighters to
investigate. The errant plane was forced to land at the
airport in Gatesville, TX.
Waiting to speak to the gentleman were members of the US Secret
Service who released him after determining the airspace violations
were "inadvertent."
As ANN reported on December
22, the temporary flight restriction (TFR) over
Crawford Ranch became effective December 26 and ended today when
the President returned to Washington.
For reasons of national security following the events of 9/11,
the airspace around the President is always restricted which
creates TFRs as he moves about the country.
Some in the general aviation community have called for an end to
TFRs saying they are ineffective and only serve to set unsuspecting
pilots up for criminal prosecution or enforcement action from the
FAA because of inadvertent airspace violations. The government
typically publishes the location and duration of any TFRs days in
advance.
Although it appears unlikely the pilot in Sunday's incident will
face any criminal charges, an FAA spokeswoman told Reuters it is
investigating to determine if further action is required.
ANN urges all pilots to make themselves fully aware of all
relevant data affecting a proposed flight including weather,
performance data and information regarding airspace requirements
along their route of flight. Let's all be careful out there...
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