Meeting Sponsored By Several Advocacy Groups To Discuss Sequester

Actor, pilot, and GA advocate Harrison Ford was invited to join the house aviation caucus for an event Tuesday hosted by several of the industries biggest advocacy groups.

Ford, a pilot for more than 20 years, said that flying has given him "great joy, and I hope I can use it to benefit other people," according to a report appearing in The Hill.

Missouri Republican Sam Graves, a co-chair of the caucus who invited the actor, thanked Ford for bringing some "star power" to the hearing. In typical Washington fashion, the appearance of a celebrity drew more media than would otherwise have paid attention to the event.

The Daily Caller reports that Ford said that if the FAA goes through with a plan to close as many as 238 control towers across the country as a result of sequestration, "accidents are going to happen." He said that in his view, "there are options and choices to be made," and that he hopes that a way can be found to keep the towers open for the safety of both commercial air travelers and GA pilots.

The French news service AFP reports that Ford said "This funding mechanism has got some serious problems," and stressed that closing towers at smaller airports around the country could have a "huge impact on small business."

While his tone through the meeting was serious, he did say that there was a big difference between flying GA airplanes and piloting the Millennium Falcon. "The pay for flying the Millennium Falcon was a lot higher," he said.

(File photo)

FMI: http://graves.house.gov