[JYO] AOPA President Phil Boyer's letter to CBS President Andrew Heyward...

January 15, 2004 
Andrew Heyward
President, CBS News
524 W 57th St.
New York, NY  10019 
Dear Mr. Heyward: 
On behalf of more than 400,000 members of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots  
Association (AOPA), the world's largest aviation organization, I am writing you 
 
to express our utter shock and dismay regarding the story about general 
aviation  that ran on your evening news on January 14, 2004. It is disgraceful 
that 
"the  news organization of Edward R. Murrow" would produce — and aggressively 
promote  in a tabloid headline form — a segment on the prestigious CBS 
Evening 
News that  was so obviously slanted, incomplete, factually erroneous and 
salaciously  inflammatory. 
Your irresponsible reporting techniques included: 
    *   Failure to mention a wide range of security initiatives — developed 
by  AOPA and other organizations in concert with the FAA and Homeland Security 
—
  that are now in practice across the country. Completely contrary to your  
report, much has changed since 9/11.  
    *   Failure to use a credible "expert" for your interview. Peter Goetz 
has no  credentials in GA security. He is currently a PR consultant with grief  
counseling experience at NTSB. Other on-camera "experts" were a Realtor and an 
 airport manager for a highly unique airport.  
    *   The total absence of any evidence that general aviation should be  
considered a security threat. To suggest otherwise is to be blind to an  
enormous body of facts that could never produce the sensationalistic sham that  
you 
deign to call a news story. 
On the basis of the voluminous emails and calls we have received today I can  
confirm that your reporter, Bob Orr, has badly tarnished his reputation in 
the  aviation community. Had he — or anyone — from CBS simply called we 
could 
have  provided the information that the story was completely lacking. For 
example: 
    *   The Eagle's Nest residential airpark, while not unique, is far from  
typical of most public-use airports. These exclusive communities are mostly  
privately owned, private-use airports where the community is even more closely  
knit than the general aviation community at large.  
    *   The lack of fencing at facilities like Eagle's Nest is more than 
offset by  the fact that the residents lock their planes next to their cars in 
enclosed  hangars that are attached to their homes.  
    *   The 5,400 public-use general aviation airports in this country have  
security measures appropriate to their situation. Many are fenced with  
controlled access; others rely less on physical security procedures than on  
pilot 
vigilance, using guidelines such as AOPA's Airport Watch program. The  TSA has 
acknowledged that "one size does not fit all" when it comes to  security at 
general aviation airports and will be releasing a "best practices"  guide based 
on recommendations from the general aviation industry that will  help airports 
adopt appropriate security measures based on their individual  circumstances. 
 
    *   The typical general aviation aircraft, when fully loaded, weighs less 
than  an empty Honda Civic and carries about the same amount of fuel as a  
large SUV. By comparison, an airliner like the ones used on September 11,  
2001, 
can weigh as much as 180 Civics and carry nearly 24 thousand  gallons of 
fuel. In stark contrast, a general aviation aircraft has limited  ability to 
cause 
damage as evidenced by the unfortunate incident in Tampa. It  was an 
extremely rare act by a lone individual that, while horrifying to  imagine much 
less 
see, caused relatively minor damage. 
Since 9/11 we are all living in a world marked by a heightened state of fear. 
 Many organizations and members like ours have worked hard to address  
opportunities to keep those events from being repeated. By planting deep seeds  
of 
fear that are totally without merit, your report did a major disservice not  
only to our members, but to the general public as well. We are outraged and you 
 
should be ashamed. 
At AOPA we will continue to work on behalf of our members. We hope at CBS you 
 will work half as hard to inform your viewers of the facts and leave 
sensational  journalism in the grocery store racks where it belongs. In the 
interim, 
we stand  ready to provide you with the facts that your report completely 
ignored. 
Sincerely, 
 
Phil Boyer
President

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