Thu, Feb 27, 2003
"Loitering" Pilots Warned Of Consequences
In response to concerns from security officials,
FAA has issued a new nuclear power plant NOTAM. Pilots are still
advised not to "loiter or circle" in the vicinity of nuclear power
plants, but now TSA is brandishing a stick; pilots who fly
suspiciously around the power plants can expect to be interviewed
by law enforcement personnel. And if law enforcement isn't
convinced the pilot's flight activities were innocent, the pilot's
name may be added to TSA's incident reporting system database (and
you get marked with TSA's Scarlet Letter...).
FAA issued this advisory NOTAM rather than reinstating the
10-mile TFRs around all nuclear facilities that was put into effect
for a little over a week in October 2001. Some security officials
had been pushing for re-closing the airspace around some 90 nuclear
facilities, affecting more than 700 public and private
airports.
TSA maintains that the incident reporting system is NOT the same
thing as the agency's security list, which TSA can use to revoke a
pilot's certificate for being a "security threat."
"Nevertheless, the government must not use this advisory to take
away pilot rights or to harass pilots who are conducting normal
flight operations," said Phil Boyer, AOPA president (pictured
below, right).
TSA
has assured AOPA that pilots conducting operations to or from
airports close to these facilities will not be considered
loitering. "However, pilots circling as to loiter in the vicinity
of these facilities or using the nuclear plants for the purpose of
ground reference maneuvers would certainly be questioned," a TSA
official said.
ANN Note: Folks... a lot of this depends on the
whims and decisions of the TSA... an organization that has done
little to convince the pilot community that it is keeping our
interests in mind or that it even knows what the heck it is doing
-- aviation-wise. God help us...--Jim Campbell--ANN E-I-C
!FDC 3/1655 FDC ...SPECIAL NOTICE... FLIGHT
RESTRICTIONS. EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE, PURSUANT
TO 14 CFR SECTION 99.7, SPECIAL SECURITY INSTRUCTIONS, PILOTS
CONDUCTING FLIGHT OPERATIONS WITHIN THE TERRITORIAL AIRSPACE OF THE
U.S. ARE ADVISED TO AVOID THE AIRSPACE ABOVE OR IN PROXIMITY TO ALL
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS. PILOTS SHOULD NOT CIRCLE OR LOITER IN THE
VICINITY OF SUCH FACILITIES. PILOTS WHO DO SO CAN EXPECT TO BE
INTERVIEWED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL AT THEIR DESTINATION
AIRPORT AND THE PILOT'S NAME MAY BE ADDED TO THE TRANSPORTATION
SECURITY ADMINISTRATION (TSA) INCIDENT REPORTING SYSTEM.
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