Wed, Jan 08, 2003
Pilots Urged to Comment
After almost
three months, the FAA Office of Rulemaking has formally registered
AOPA's petition to allow transient traffic use of the "DC3"
airports (College Park Airport, Potomac Airpark, and Washington
Executive/Hyde Field) in Maryland, close to Washington, D.C. AOPA
had filed the petition in October and has been pressing FAA to put
it on the docket ever since.
"Restoration of general aviation access to the nation's capital
is one of the major post-9/11 airspace hurdles remaining," said
Andrew V. Cebula, AOPA senior vice president for Government and
Technical Affairs. "Pilots are encouraged to visit the federal
government's rulemaking Web site and submit comments recommending
that the FAA adopt AOPA's petition and restore general aviation
access to Washington's airspace." (Go to http://dmses.dot.gov/submit/
and enter document # FAA-2002-13623-1.)
Under the current special flight rule SFAR 94 governing
operations at those airports and within a 15-nm radius of the
Washington Monument, only pilots who were based at those airports
prior to September 11, 2001, and have undergone extensive
background checks may operate from the "DC3" airports. In its
petition, AOPA is also asking that vetted pilots be permitted to
conduct air traffic pattern work at all three airports.
"AOPA was recently successful in getting the FAA and TSA to
issue a notam that allows for inter-airport operations by vetted
pilots," said Cebula. "We continue to explore all available
regulatory alternatives to push for implementing the two remaining
recommendations contained in our petition."
The association's petition notes that although
SFAR 94 contained language suggesting that additional operations
may be permitted after a procedural validation period, no effort
has been made to open the "DC3" to transient flight operations
since the SFAR was finalized in February of last year. Also,
despite the fact that general aviation has never been used in the
conduct of terrorist activities, it is the only segment of the
aviation community restricted by SFAR 94.
With the exception of security TFRs (in various areas around the
country), general aviation operations are now permitted since the
airspace shutdown after 9/11. That is not the case in the
Washington area, where SFAR 94 prohibits almost all general
aviation operations.
More News
An Amazing Experience Awaits The Chosen Few... Oshkosh, to us, seems the perfect place to get started on watching aviation recover the past couple of years... and so ANN is putting>[...]
“NBAA has a tremendous responsibility to the business aviation industry, and we are constantly collaborating with them. Our flight departments, professionals and aircraft own>[...]
Dead Reckoning Dead reckoning, as applied to flying, is the navigation of an airplane solely by means of computations based on airspeed, course, heading, wind direction, and speed,>[...]
Aero Linx: Vertical Aviation Safety Team (VAST) We are a public–private initiative to enhance worldwide flight operations safety in all segments of the vertical flight indust>[...]
We're Everywhere... Thanks To You! Even with the vast resources and incredibly far-reaching scope of the Aero-News Network, every now and then a story that should be reported on sl>[...]