Fri, Sep 12, 2003
A sharp drop in the
number of general aviation aircraft stolen this year shows that
general aviation's efforts to enhance airport security are working.
According to the Aviation Crime Prevention Institute, only three
general aviation aircraft have been stolen so far in 2003 compared
to 13 during all of 2002.
"The drop coincides with the roll-out of AOPA's Airport Watch
program," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "AOPA can't and won't
take credit for the drop. Instead, it goes to the airport managers
and employees and individual pilots all across the country who took
up AOPA's challenge to create a 'neighborhood watch' for their
local airports."
The Transportation Security Administration clearly agrees the
self-imposed security enhancements are worth the effort. In a
terrorist threat advisory, TSA urged pilots to follow the Airport
Watch guidelines, going so far as to as to provide an Internet link
to the program's Web page.
Airport Watch was created in conjunction with TSA. The program
calls on pilots to be vigilant and act as protectors of their own
local airports by watching for and reporting suspicious activities
such as people who don't seem to belong, aircraft with unusual or
unauthorized modifications or cargos, or anything that seems out of
place.
"Most GA airports are relatively small," said Boyer. "Pilots
based there know each other and can recognize both normal and
out-of-the-ordinary activity there. Airport Watch provided a
brochure to every pilot in the United States outlining what to be
alert for. And TSA provided an easy-to-remember toll-free
nationwide hotline (866-GA-SECURE or 866-427-3287) for pilots to
report suspicious activity."
TSA won't discuss the
number, type, or outcome of calls to the hotline but acknowledges
that pilots have been using it.
General aviation's security enhancements, and the government's
willingness to embrace them, are based on several facts:
- General aviation aircraft pose little security risk.
-
- No general aviation aircraft has ever been used in a terrorist
attack.
- The overwhelming majority of the fleet is too small and too
slow to be used in a 9/11-type attack.
- Fully loaded, they weigh less than the family car weighs
empty.
- They lack the payload to carry an effective weapon.
- For that small percentage of aircraft that might be large
enough and fast enough (business jets, etc.), TSA has issued
regulations establishing security requirements on a par with
airline security.
- General aviation aircraft are unlikely to be hijacked.
-
- Most GA aircraft have two to six seats. The pilot knows his
passengers in the same way a driver knows the people riding in the
family car.
- General aviation airports are secure by their nature.
-
- They are populated by the local aviation community, whose
members know each other.
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