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