AOPA Offers Audio File Of ADIZ Flight

The second set of ADIZ public meetings are expected to start Wednesday afternoon from 1 to 4 pm in the Airport Marriott Hotel in Dulles, VA. AOPA President Phil Boyer will be first to speak at this meeting. The meeting will resume at 6:30 pm, and run to 9 pm.

Highlights From First Meeting

The first such public meeting -- which was announced at last year's AOPA Expo by DOT Secretary Norman Mineta, and was attended by over 300 local pilots -- was held last week... and AOPA representatives tell Aero-News that federal security officials got an earful from everyone involved in the ADIZ fight.

Over the course of six hours, more than 30 speakers at the first meeting provided the government with a clear message about the ADIZ's inadequacies -- through personal accounts of operational nightmares, safety hazards, and negative economic impacts. Those problems would only continue and fester should the ADIZ become permanent.

"...These public meetings allow the government to hear that -- loud and clear -- directly from the members, the pilots and aircraft owners who have to struggle with these unworkable regulations every day," said AOPA president Phil Boyer.

One pilot -- Eric Flamino, the AOPA Airport Support Network volunteer at Tipton Airport in the heart of the ADIZ -- told the panel how the restrictive airspace is hurting pilot safety, because they aren't flying enough to keep their skills sharp -- for example, few regularly practice pattern work at Tipton now, due to the hassles involved.

Another pilot, a Naval academy instructor, recounted his two-year ordeal with the FAA as a result of a 1.5-mile incursion into the ADIZ that ultimately resulted in a 15-day suspension of his pilot certificate.

AOPA stated during the first meeting the 11-member panel composed of representatives from the FAA, Transportation Security Administration, Homeland Security, Defense Department, Customs and Border Protection, and the Secret Service seemed unresponsive -- but the FAA assured AOPA that the agency is listening.

"We appreciate all the thought that people have put into their comments -- the almost 20,000 submissions to the docket and live testimony yesterday," said an FAA spokeswoman. "We appreciate the time they took to come to the public meetings to offer their recommendations, alternate ideas, and suggestions of how to protect the airspace around the Capital Region but still allow the aviation community to thrive. We will look at all the comments and consider the many creative recommendations we have."

One must wonder what some of those "creative recommendations" suggested by pilots were...

Listen To An ADIZ Flight

While the battle over a permanent ADIZ in Washington, DC touches everyone in the pilot community -- as it could be a sign of things to come throughout the country -- those of us far removed from the east coast (or who don't fly anywhere near the Capitol) may not completely understand all of the hoops pilots who traverse the ADIZ need to fly through -- especially when those hoops are not held steady.

During the first public meeting, panel members -- some of whom are pilots, and all of whose work is deeply involved in aviation -- heard how the hasty requirements that were established during one weekend in 2003 are virtually impossible to follow flawlessly -- by pilots and controllers alike.

AOPA is offering an audio file of such a flight, described by the organization as a "not-so-simple", and completely legal, flight through the DC ADIZ. The nine-minute file brings to light some of the challenges faced by pilots and controllers alike -- and how often, neither group completely understands the bigger picture involved. You may download the audio file here.

After the first meeting, AOPA Executive VP of Government Affairs Andy Cebula commented on the strength of members' arguments against the ADIZ -- more of which will be heard in Wednesday's meeting.

"Our members gave articulate, well-reasoned arguments against the ADIZ that established credibility and set the bar for these meetings," said Cebula last week. "They all questioned the logic of imposing the harshest penalties on the ones who pose the least amount of threat."

FMI: www.aopa.org