AOPA tells us
that a public service announcement that began running on
television several months after the September 11 terrorist attacks
shows an empty street as the narrator says, "On September 11,
terrorists tried to change America forever." The scene changes to
the same street with flags flying from every house as the narrator
says, "Well, they succeeded," the clear implication being that the
nation is stronger for having survived the ordeal.
Much the same can be said for general aviation two years after
the terrorists turned airliners into weapons and focused national
attention on aviation security.
"Yes, we're still under attack by those who don't understand
GA," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "But if you look at a map of
flight-restricted areas across the country, you'll see that for the
vast majority of pilots, we've maintained our freedom to fly.
"And we've done so by taking the bull by the horns. While the
government was tied up trying to beef up security at air carrier
airports, general aviation took its own steps to enhance security
at the nation's 5,000 other public-use airports."
AOPA developed and unveiled Airport Watch in conjunction with
the Transportation Security Administration. The National Business
Aviation Association (NBAA) developed security guidelines for
business aircraft operators. The National Air Transportation
Association did the same for charter operators and flight
schools.
"Perhaps the biggest
threat terrorism poses to general aviation today is the excuse it
gives anti-airport activists across the country to invoke national
security in fighting against airports," said Boyer. "The most
extreme example is Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's claim that he
destroyed the runway at Meigs Field out of national security
concerns."
AOPA continues to fight for relief from flight restrictions that
appear to have outlived their usefulness. The Baltimore-Washington
area remains firmly clamped in the grip of an air defense
identification zone (ADIZ) imposed in the run-up to war with Iraq.
And pilots in the Puget Sound area of Washington State have to run
a gauntlet of temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) every time they
go flying. Other longstanding TFRs remain scattered across the
country.
Fortunately, there's a bill pending in Congress, which AOPA
supports, that would require the secretary of Transportation to
continually justify to Congress the need to maintain the ADIZ. And
AOPA continues to press the FAA to review the other "permanent"
TFRs.
"So the question becomes, 'Where will we be on September 11,
2004?'" concluded Boyer. "If general aviation pilots remain
vigilant, both for suspicious activity at their airports and for
threats to their freedom to fly, we may be quite a bit closer to
the way things were before the attacks."