The US Pilot's Association is (Justifiably) Perturbed...
Pilots nationwide are
more than alarmed by CBS Evening News “Eye on America”
Correspondent Bob Orr’s report last week, which described
residential airpark communities and General Aviation airports as
“an open invitation for terrorists.” In fact, according
to Jan Hoynacki, executive director of the United States Pilots
Association (USPA), aviation enthusiasts across America are
themselves feeling terrorized by fear-driven security woes.
“We feel like General Aviation is under attack by a
movement in this country to eliminate ‘little’
airplanes,” Hoynacki alleged. And in context of the barrage
of regulatory restrictions, codicils and conventions which have
been imposed upon and proposed for General Aviation since 9-11,
coupled with what aviation advocates consider to be spurious
fear-mongering hype by ratings-driven media, the facts supporting
Hoynacki’s position certainly seem to add up.
Consider, for example,
newly proposed changes to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
regulations Part 91 which will, if adopted, so inhibit charity and
sightseeing flights that, by the FAA’s own estimates,
promulgation of the new protocols will put roughly 700 aviators out
of work.
“I could understand better a regulatory change if it was
due to a safety or accident prevention factor to those type of
operations,” said Jim Collom, a commercial-rated pilot,
airpark developer and president of USPA Chapter AR01. “Yet it
appears that too often, and more so since 9-11, logical thinking
has not been at work in the decision making process.”
Adding formidably to the indignation, according to the
400,000-member Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), the
FAA flat-out refuses to talk face-to-face with the pilots they are
about to put out of business, preferring to conduct
“virtual” meetings instead.
Another example of what pilots like Hoynacki and Collom see as
condescending and abusive treatment of aviators, is an airspace
takeover being forwarded by the United States Air Force. Given
implementation, a new MOA (Military Operations Area) restriction
would effectively block all non-military flight from Albuquerque
through Roswell, down to Artesia and Carlsbad in New Mexico,
creating 3,200 square miles of no-fly zone.
“USPA will speak
against this egregious grab of more airspace at hearings being held
later this month,” said USPA Vice President Steve Uslan,
noting that the formal protest will be joined by the New Mexico
Pilots Association and others.
“This is not a matter of patriotism,” said Hoynacki,
“but rather a matter of proper access to the nation’s
airspace, and specifically how this MOA will hamper General
Aviation routes across the state.”
Supporting these assertions, the AOPA and the Experimental
Aircraft Association (EAA), two of the largest member-based
aviation organizations in the world, have adopted powerfully
defensive positions.
Doug Mcnair, Vice President of Government Relations with EAA,
publicly commented that “everyday, somewhere in the world,
trucks and automobiles are used as a terrorist weapon, while
general aviation aircraft have never to date been used in such a
manner. Despite this, no one would contemplate draconian federal
security standards on personal automobiles.”
Adding insult to injury, last week’s CBS report on airpark
security, which alleged a dangerous lack thereof, has incensed
aviators nationwide with repercussions reverberating on the EAA and
AOPA websites, claiming that the CBS article was at best an
irresponsible and sensationalistic piece which did nothing to
inform viewers or resolve legitimate issues, and at worst was a
slanted, incomplete, factually erroneous, and salaciously
inflammatory attack.
“I was appalled
by Bob Orr’s one-size-fits-all story about General Aviation
Airport Security,” said Collom, whose 500-acre Holley
Mountain airpark in North Central Arkansas, though not required to,
has taken substantial measures to ensure that precautions taken by
the residential aviation community are what they deserve to be.
“But still, the best security is what we call ‘our
families caring for each other.’ Everyone knows
everyone. We know when others are home, where they travel, and when
they return. We know when our neighbors are ill, when they’re
celebrating a birthday and if someone is in need of help. We are a
family. And we understand the need for security in these times with
all aspects of transportation, not just aviation, but Mr.
Orr’s report might have been more accurate if he would have
read it out of a crackerjack box.”
“I’m thoroughly ticked,” said Hoynacki.
“CBS was wrong and misleading to the general public. There
are many complex issues affecting the status of General Aviation in
the United States today, and the need for a firm hand in
constructive development is a given. But if the media or anyone
else wants to know what’s going on in aviation, they should
talk to pilots, airpark residents and aviation professionals, not
real estate agents and hired help.”