Mon, May 09, 2005
House Members Predict GA Landings Soon
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has
reminded the FAA that the Washington Metropolitan Air Defense
Identification Zone (ADIZ) was intended to be temporary and is
urging the agency to make changes.
In the report accompanying legislation to reopen Ronald Reagan
Washington National Airport (DCA) to general aviation, the
committee, led by Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), points out that the
nearly 40-mile ADIZ was instituted in 2003 when the terrorist
threat level reached its highest point since the attacks of
September 11, 2001. At that time, the Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) said the ADIZ would no longer be needed when
the threat level dropped, as it since has.
"We're pleased that the
committee leadership understands the AOPA and GA point of view
— the ADIZ doesn't work and should be changed," said AOPA
President Phil Boyer. "It was meant to be temporary, and its time
has passed."
In its report the committee recognizes that general aviation has
been unfairly burdened with regulations and restrictions since
September 11: "Despite the fact that GA was neither a target nor a
tool of the 9-11 terrorists, the federal government has imposed
more security-related flight restrictions on GA than on any other
sector of the aviation industry."
The report also notes that aviation security has increased since
the 9-11 terrorist attacks and that the GA community has
volunteered to work with transportation and security agencies to
develop reasonable measures that won't strangle the economy or
punish law-abiding private pilots.
"We've been working with the FAA, TSA, and others to find
security measures that are appropriate and that really work, like
AOPA's Airport Watch program," said Boyer. "But we want to be
perfectly clear that the ADIZ is not the solution. It smothers
general aviation without providing real security benefits."
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