Mon, Jul 21, 2003
AOPA: Enough Is Enough!
AOPA has issued an all-hands call to
members for a mail/phone blast to the White House. The pilot's and
owners organization suggests its members let President Bush know
what his TFRs do to them. Security restrictions for President Bush
created a "perfect storm" over Texas during the weekend: four
30-nm-radius temporary flight restrictions (TFRs), two of which
overlap in time and airspace, in a 24-hour period. These TFRs
impact 70 Texas airports.
"President Bush is a pilot. It's time he understood what his
security detail is doing to fellow pilots," said AOPA President
Phil Boyer. "Presidential security personnel have only one
constituent: the President himself. But Mr. Bush has millions of
constituents, and now is the time for him to hear from them."
AOPA is urging any pilot who is affected by last
weekend's TFRs to write to President Bush and let him know how his
security arrangements have impacted your flight.
"Don't send an e-mail," said AOPA Senior Vice President of
Government and Technical Affairs Andy Cebula. "It might as well be
junk mail. Send a letter. In Washington, a piece of paper carries a
lot more weight." The White House address is:
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500
During his weekend at the ranch,
Bush made two side trips to Dallas and Houston. Besides what have
become the usual restrictions for pilots in the Crawford area, the
TFR in Dallas and two in Houston caused massive headaches for Texas
pilots. Scores of airports were impacted (AOPA went so far as to
compile a comprehensive list) and the inner ring dimensions are
different for each of the TFRs.
"Today it's Texas. Tomorrow it's wherever the next stop on the
campaign trail is. General aviation is not a threat to the
President or anyone else in America. It never was," said Boyer.
"It's time for the President's security personnel to stop treating
GA pilots like criminal suspects. Now."
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