Aero-Analysis by ANN Editor-In-Chief, Jim Campbell

We were feeling pretty good this morning at ANN.

Having personally worked on flight tests of the early certified BRS Cessna 150 program (and having flown underneath that chute quite a few times), I take some personal pride in seeing "that crazy idea" keep saving lives... again and again and again.

Face it, no matter the reason, it's a delight to watch the grim reaper get cheated.

So imagine our delight turning to incredulity when yet another political animal looking for a cheap headline shows his ignorance and rains on the GA parade (AGAIN) in some of the local media coverage surrounding the CAPS save.

The recent "save" of an SR22 pilot should be yet another opportunity for the world to marvel at the technology and safety being built into the new generation of personal aircraft... not as a target for a self-serving politician to get a few cheap media mentions. In the most recent case, NY State Assemblyman Ryan Karben, D-Monsey (right), claimed that the SR22 parachute save "highlighted the need" to create yet another no-fly zone around the local Indian Point nuclear power plant.

Let me get this straight... technology saves an endangered pilot with a brilliant display of American ingenuity and all the Assemblyman can think to do is to find ways to deprive more Americans of their right to go as they please?

Puh-leeese...

OK... here's the background to the matter at hand. Media reports claim that the SR22 chute-assisted landing occurred only a few miles southeast of Indian Point.

Karben claims that, "Today's plane crash occurred only a short distance from a major nuclear reactor... Establishing a no-fly zone and disrupting a flight pattern is a small price to pay if it means ensuring the safety and security of millions of New Yorkers."

Karben added that, "A catastrophe at Indian Point would be an emergency for the entire metropolitan region... We need to take proper preventative measures and minimize the potential for any sort of accident to occur."

Oblivious to the many PUBLISHED studies that have exhaustively concluded that light aircraft (and far larger aircraft, including airliners) pose NO (repeat, NO) threat, Karben has firmly placed his foot in his mouth and opined on issues with which he apparently has little knowledge -- and which the facts CLEARLY DO NOT support. 

But... this is where the story gets REALLY bizarre... Even as the Assemblyman is being quoted in a local article about the Cirrus save, ranting about the danger that these small airplanes pose to hardened nuclear facilities, yet another quote, just a few lines later, shoots him down and shows that Karben is way off base.

The Indian Point Nuke site is owned by Entergy Nuclear Northeast. Company spokesperson, Jim Steets, counters Karben and specifically states that such small aircraft pose no risk to the plant. "There's no question that a small plane could not penetrate or even cause minor damage to our containment building," says Steets. And, had Karben or his staff done the slightest amount of homework, they'd have had plenty of reasons to have known that.

The sad part is that the stories that quoted the errant Assemblyman will not always be read thoroughly or dispassionately... and some people will come away with the errant and factually insupportable conclusion that GA planes pose a risk to nuclear safety... all because some minor local politician said so.

For that, NY State Assemblyman Ryan Karben, D-Monsey, should apologize. He should do his homework and correct his false and alarmist statements as vociferously as possible in order to undo the damage his rants have done. However; according to Karben's Chief of Staff, Aaron Troodler, this is not likely to happen. When confronted by some of the FACTS mentioned above (and more), Troodler's response was to disagree with the studies, the experts and insist on the need for the actions espoused by the Assemblyman.

There's no dissuading some folks from the facts when their mind is made up. What a shame.

FMI: http://assembly.state.ny.us/, http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/?ad=095, karbenr@assembly.state.ny.us