A Very Sad Day for GA

[Capflyer]

Just recieved this from AOPA. In our heads many of us that fly here knew this was coming but the reality was not something our hearts wanted to believe. What makes this even worse than our situation here is that a precedent has now been set that they can do this anywhere without any cause other than someones personal opinion. I worry who/where is next.

On a positive note, my buddy and I enjoy getting the ADIZ controllers concerned as we fly formation in and out while they have the security folks looking over their shoulders.

D.C. ADIZ becomes federal regulation

The FAA has announced that the new Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Area Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA) will go into effect in February. The SFRA replaces the D.C. ADIZ and will be published under 14 CFR Part 93.

The government issued the rule despite overwhelming opposition from general aviation pilots. More than 22,000 pilots wrote to the FAA opposing the rule.

?It?s extremely disappointing that the ADIZ?something that was hastily implemented as a temporary measure?has become federal regulation,? said Andy Cebula, AOPA executive vice president of government affairs. ?We never gave up trying to eliminate the ADIZ, working with security officials, members of Congress, the White House, and the FAA.?

Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Area Special Flight Rules Area
Size: 30-nautical-mile radius, extending from the surface up to 18,000 feet msl
Location: Centered on the DCA VORTAC

The ADIZ notam will go away, but pilots flying through the area will need to comply with the same rules as they have for years. See AOPA?s ADIZ Operations Checklist. Incorporating current policy, anyone who willfully violates the SFRA will be subject to criminal penalties.

Special procedures at Leesburg Executive Airport in Leesburg, Va., are not included in the rule and will continue to be controlled by notam.

As mandated earlier by the FAA, pilots who will be flying in or within 60 miles of the SFRA must complete the agency?s online course, Navigating the New DC ADIZ, by Feb. 9.

?Operationally, nothing changes for pilots,? Cebula said. ?But issuing an ADIZ final rule is a concern because a temporary flight restriction was imposed, without consulting airspace users, and later made ?permanent? with no documented justification.?

For more information, see AOPA Online.

[lightning]

i just read it.

[Louise Hose]

Thank goodness that Mikey and I escaped before this came into effect. The D.C. area just isn't a healthy place to live, IMHO.

[flybill7]

Despite 22,000 responses and a couple of town meetings that were practically unanimous in their opposition to the ADIZ, the government just went ahead and made the worthless and costly thing permanent. Why even ask for comments if they were just going to be ignored? They did it without any approval by Congress. They just did it.

Those not in the D.C. area may not care, but you should, because we've now seen just how easy it is for the government to essentially restrict the airspace over a big city wherever they feel like it. Your city is next ... I feel for those who have to fly out of airports within the ADIZ. Another click on the rachet ...

[SpacemanSpiff]

Originally Posted by flybill7

Despite 22,000 responses and a couple of town meetings that were practically unanimous in their opposition to the ADIZ, the government just went ahead and made the worthless and costly thing permanent. Why even ask for comments if they were just going to be ignored? They did it without any approval by Congress. They just did it.

Sounds like it's along the same lines of Taxation without representation. GA apparently has no representation.

[rbibb]

I would say this is more than a sad day for aviation rather more one for the entire country.

When we trade freedom for "security" we will end up with neither. In the argument surrounding the ADIZ there has never been put forth the case why it makes sense to impose such a "no-fly" zone around the nation's capital as opposed to say New York City, or Omaha, or Lukenbach, Texas for God's sake?

After all, if one of the roles of the government is to protect its Citizens from harm then when did we decide that some are more valuable than others. Oh.
Of course we never heard the arguments for this point because it was never had. Or at least never had in a manner that you could truly participate. But we had the NPRM process? Mere bureaucratic necessity lest those who decided long ago that THIS WAS THE WAY TO GO actually would have to come out of the shadows and defend the choice.

But now some 5 plus years after having the thing thrust on us we have numerous Federal bureaucracies laboring hard to do what they do - a job as well as they are able given the respources allocated. If they don't do the job as well as someone might visualize or, say some wayward pilot strays inside the zone, then **** is paid and, as if by magic, more resources are requested, more procedures adopted and on and on and.....

Are we safer yet? An inconvenient question.

Full disclosure: I kew someone quite well who had a runin with the ADIZ when living in the DC area. Innocent clipping of the outer veil on a tangential course - maybe 1.2 mile shortcut and all. But he faced the wrath of those who will not be denied justice. Got a 15 day suspension over it. After the formalities were dispensed with he was talking about it with the FAA personnel whose job it was to implement the punishment about the whole sordid affair. In asking about the large number of infractions (this was early one before GPS receivers didn't have the boundries in the databases) he inncovently asked; "How many of the (say 4,000 at the time) infractions had, after due investigation, been determined to be national security threats?" The FAA man smiled and said that, "according to the people actually in charge of this (who he was forbidden to tell) -- ALL OF THEM."

You see you and me dear taxpayers have built this complex of radars, sensors, red and green lights. We have orbitting assets watching the ADIZ day and night. The Coast Guard has bought machine gun mounts for their helicopters (after Customs blew the mission and Coasties stepped up). The Airforce has armed F-16 sitting on the ramp an Langley AFB in hot alert status ready to launch within a few minutes for a "buster" run to DC should the need arise. Add up the bill and it has got to be 100's of millions a year to support this enterprise. Is it effective?- wrong question to ask as no one is willing to discuss that on the record - national security and all. Is it going anywhere? - well like all government programs - not likely. Once in place it is easier to drill for oil in Anwar than kill a government program.

The government implemented a tax to help pay for the nation going to war. until a year or so you paid it every month. It was the Federal Excise tax on Land Line telephone service. The war it was implemented to support was the Spanish American War.......

[CFI1513840]

Is there an underlying factor that motivated the government to implement a permanent DC ADIZ?

In pre-ADIZ times, one could happily tour the DC area by light aircraft, getting terrific views of the Capitol, Washington Monument, White House, and etc. all without violating any airspace rules.

This freedom of access naturally resulted in a large number of aircraft movements within the DC area, mostly VFR traffic, which placed no additional burden on ATC, so long as the aircraft remained clear of Class B airspace.

On September 13, 1994, a deranged individual crashed a Cessna 150 into the White House, with the wreckage coming to rest two stories below the Clinton’s unoccupied bedroom. The government sat up and took notice of this event, especially those responsible for the security of the President, although no draconian rules were implemented at the time to prevent a future occurrence.

Fast forward to today. In our post 9/11 times, we are all keenly aware that there exists a large class of fanatical individuals in the world who are inspired to inflict massage damage on the US and its citizens. Death and destruction is their goal, and they would like nothing better than to strike at the seat of our government. They are not satisfied with past accomplishments, and you can bet that new plots are being hatched even as you read these words. Right or wrong, the government has decided that aircraft are the preferred method for these terrorists to choose in conducting their attacks.

There is a large CYA factor intrinsic in any bureaucracy, therefore, in order to prevent such attacks, real or imagined; ATC has been tasked with the additional responsibility of keeping track of all VFR aircraft movements within a 30 NM radius of DC. From the mix of air traffic, detection of an aircraft or multiple aircraft that pose a potential threat would require a determination based on proximity, track, heading, airspeed, altitude and other factors. This task would be exceedingly difficult if there were a substantial number of other, friendly aircraft in the area, which would tend to obfuscate, or mask those that had evil intent. In other words, hostile aircraft would tend to get “lost in the crowd” if everyone could come and go as they please. The easy solution to this problem from the government’s point of view is to simply restrict light aircraft operations around DC and place everyone under positive control, which would tend to reduce the “noise level” and make it easier to detect hostile aircraft in time to allow interdiction. In other words, the government is restricting the rights of its citizens to move about freely in order to make it easier to spot the bad guys.

Restricting the rights of citizens in the interest of national security is not without precedent and has been used before, particularly in wartime, the most extreme example being the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War 2. The troubling aspect in the case of the ADIZ is that it has been made permanent, and once this freedom is lost, it will probably never be regained. It also sets a precedent for further restrictions in other locations. Perhaps some day in the not too distant future, it will be decreed that all General Aviation operations are to be restricted to a designated block of airspace in Wyoming. That would certainly make it a lot easier for the government to spot the bad guys.

[AZtailwind]

Originally Posted by rbibb

I would say this is more than a sad day for aviation rather more one for the entire country.

When we trade freedom for "security" we will end up with neither. .......[/i]

Totally agree, .... "for the land of the free and the home of the brave, except DC and if your chosen flying transportation weighs more that 25K pounds." -Now how do you fit that in an anthem ending?
... our federal government, "we know what is best for you, just don't ask, we will tell you." BTW, you know all the terrorists will abide by this no-fly-zone, correct?... any screwed up mess (thinking from 9/11 to todays economy), seems our governments have much to do with it by not doing there assigned jobs .... ok, rant off

[rocketbob]

I hate to say this but I will bet money there will be eventually another permanent TFR set up over Chicago...and that may be just the beginnging. They'll chip away at our freedoms in little bites and chunks.

[Sticky1]

Someone delete my post...?