[JYO] Address for Pilot Comments to FAA...

 
Pilots should submit comments on the proposal before November 2 to: 
Docket Management Facility
U.S. Department of Transportation
400  Seventh St., SW
Nassif Building, Room PL-401
Washington, DC 20590-001 
- - - - 
AOPA opposes proposal to make  Washington, D.C.-area flight restrictions 
permanent 
 (http://www.aopa.org/images/whatsnew/newsitems/2005/050718adiz.jpg)  
AOPA opposes _an FAA  proposal_ 
(http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsitems/2005/050804adiz-nprm.pdf)  released 
today that would codify flight restrictions in 
the  Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The restricted area would be 
designated as  "national defense airspace" and would replace the current air 
defense  
identification zone (ADIZ), covering nearly 2,000 square miles and extending 
to  an altitude of 18,000 feet. 
"AOPA recognizes the necessity to protect the national assets in the nation's 
 capital. The 15-nautical-mile-radius no-fly zone known as the 
flight-restricted  zone (FRZ) does that," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "But 
we take 
strong  exception to the FAA's proposal to make the temporary outer ring of 
Washington's  defensive airspace â the ADIZ â permanent." 
The FAA proposal also reiterated the agency's statutory authority to, with  
the appropriate evidence, pursue criminal prosecution against anyone who  
"knowingly or willfully violates" national defense airspace. Current law  
provides 
for fines or imprisonment for up to one year. 
Since the September 11 attacks, the government has made numerous upgrades to  
security systems around the nation's capital, including a new visual warning  
system (VWS) that uses lasers to warn pilots away from restricted airspace,  
anti-aircraft missile batteries, and greatly improved radar coverage. Such  
measures significantly enhance the protection offered by the FRZ, making the  
ADIZ unnecessary. 
The Washington, D.C., ADIZ and another over New York City were established  
during a weekend in February 2003, as temporary security measures imposed in  
preparation for the then-pending Iraq war. The New York ADIZ was eliminated  
after President Bush declared the end of major hostilities. However, two and a  
half years later, the Washington-area ADIZ still exists. 
"The government has failed to assess the impact of what was intended as a  
temporary security enhancement on pilots, on air traffic controllers, or on  
airports and the businesses based there," Boyer continued. "No general aviation 
 
aircraft has ever been used in a terrorist attack. And the government has  
determined that not a single ADIZ violation was terrorist-related." 
Since the ADIZ was implemented in 2003, AOPA has proposed various ways the  
airspace could be altered without threatening national security and without  
eliminating the FRZ. For example, AOPA proposed allowing smaller, slower  
aircraft to operate without the flight plan or identifier beacon requirements  
currently in place. Such general aviation aircraft do not pose a significant  
threat because they have neither the mass nor cargo-carrying capacity to cause  
large-scale damage. 
"The ADIZ is operationally unworkable and imposes significant burdens on  
pilots and air traffic controllers alike," Boyer noted. "Yet the FAA proposal  
does a poor job of even justifying making the ADIZ permanent and does nothing 
to 
 address the operational problems." 
Pilots should submit comments on the proposal before November 2 to: 
Docket Management Facility
U.S. Department of Transportation
400  Seventh St., SW
Nassif Building, Room PL-401
Washington, DC  20590-001

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