Complaints From Pilots Lead To Promise Of Reduction In Searches

We've been talking about this for a long time, and now it would appear that Customs and Border Protection is finally starting to understand that they don't need to search the airplanes of law-abiding pilots guilty of nothing more than flying cross-country.

As more and more pilots were met on the ramp by gun-carrying and sometimes aggressive CBP agents or local law enforcement, the complaints grew louder. Planes were being searched and pilots and passengers detained or threatened with arrest. Such searches mostly turned up nothing. Pilots were stopped and searched simply because they were flying along routes that were "known drug air routes."

Now, National Public Radio reports that CBP says it will take try to make amends with the GA community. Eddie Young, deputy assistant commissioner of Customs and Border Protection says that agents are calling police less often, and they are choosing their targets with more care.

He said that since January 1, CBP has found eight violations ... seven criminal and one FAA violation ... out of 474 flights researched and 25 contacts on the ground. But those who were searched and found to be innocent felt (we think rightly so, ed.) that their civil rights were being violated, and they were guilty only of doing something they love ... fly an airplane. Law enforcement is not allowed to stop and search a private ground vehicle without probable cause, so why should a private airplane be any different?

Young admitted that sometimes the tactics used, particularly by local law enforcement agencies contacted by CBP, could be overly aggressive. He said the agency is trying to do a better job of striking a balance between law enforcement duties and the civil liberties of pilots.

Still, it doesn't mean that you won't be tracked, stopped, and searched just because your flight has been profiled by a federal agency. We'll be watching closely to see if the CBP makes good on its pledge.

FMI: www.cbp.gov