[JYO] Airhead Approach to Safe Skies

_http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6933-2004Jun25.html_ 
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6933-2004Jun25.html) 
 
Airhead Approach to Safe Skies  

Sunday, June 27, 2004; Page B08  
<NITF>The June 9 snafu involving the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)  
and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that resulted in a 
needless  evacuation of the Capitol was just another visit from an existing, 
known 
problem  ["Capitol Plane Scare Blamed on Lack of Communication; TSA Findings 
Echo Those  of 9/11 Commission," front page, June 
               
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<NITF>I operate a small fleet of Cessna aircraft that carry traffic reporters 
 for local radio stations. Just about a year ago on the afternoon of Tuesday, 
 June 10, 2003, one of my planes was headed west over Interstate 66 in 
Manassas.  The aircraft was operating under a TSA-issued waiver, and it was in 
radio 
 contact with controllers at Dulles Airport and at a nearby approach-control  
facility in whose airspace it was operating. In short, it was exactly where 
it  was supposed to be, and it was doing exactly what it was supposed to be   
<NITF>However, some unnamed security official decided that my airplane was a  
threat and dispatched a military jet from Andrews Air Force Base to intercept 
 
<NITF>Air traffic controllers whose airspace the military plane passed  
through were told that the jet was coming, but that was all. Nobody had any 
idea  
whom or what the military jet was looking for, and its pilot either did not 
have  the capability or chose not to communicate directly with the controllers. 
Thus,  the jet was inside a heavily congested airspace traveling at speeds of 
as much  as 560 knots with controllers and other aircraft relegated to the 
status of  spect  
<NITF>It was only when this jet started circling our aircraft that we figured 
 out that he was looking for us. The jet circled us for several minutes until 
the  controller was able to get through to someone to call him off. All this 
over a  target moving away from the city on a route flown four or five times a 
day by  the same air  
<NITF>This situation was somewhat worse than the similar case this month  
because it disrupted airline traffic at two airports and because of the hazards 
 
associated with a cat-and-mouse game that took place at a relatively low  
altitude directly over a congested interstate highway. But the core issues are  
exactly the same -- lack of coordination, common sense and  accountab  
<NITF>In both cases, the aircraft in question were operating in an air  
traffic control environment and in clearly defined airspace. A person with even 
 
the most limited understanding of the area would have been able to discern what 
 
control tower or approach controller was responsible for the airspace in 
which  the plane was located. A reasonable reaction would have included a phone 
call to  that facility or controller to inquire about the status of the 
aircraft 
in  question. In both cases, that would have been the end of the   
<NITF>However, both times the security people involved either were not smart  
enough or chose not to make that phone call. Instead, intercepts were 
initiated  at great expense. At least in our case, that intercept caused huge 
disruptions  and safety pro  
<NITF>I did my best to get to the root of the problem so that at least I  
would have some assurance that it wouldn't happen again. I got nowhere. From 
the  
outset, it seemed clear that the FAA didn't have a lot to do with what 
happened  and that the decisions that went wrong were made on the security s 
<NITF>I had been given a local number to call. I then was referred to a  
military installation that turned out to be in Florida. From there I was handed 
 
off to someone else. A number of the folks to whom I spoke promised to have  
someone call back to help sort things out, but that never happened. In the end, 
 
I was never able to pin down just who was responsible or even where that 
person  might have been located at the time of the incident. What was doubly 
frustrating  was the number of military officials to whom I spoke along the way 
who 
didn't  see a problem with any of  
<NITF>We are now hearing that the air traffic controller involved in the June 
 9 incident was dismissed, which I also find troubling. Are we to understand 
that  it is the controller's fault that the security people didn't bother to 
pick up  the phone and ask someone about this plane -- just as they didn't 
bother to do a  year before on June 10, 2003? What's wrong with this pi  
<NITF>The air traffic control system was never intended as a security device; 
 it's there to help airplanes get from one place to the next without bumping 
into  one another in the air or on the ground. My experience in almost a  
quarter-century of flying has been that it does a good job. The controllers in  
our area, whose jobs have gotten incredibly more complex since Sept. 11, 2001,  
are doing a terrific job under difficult circumstances. My operation also 
deals  on a daily basis with a variety of aviation security folks, and they 
generally  seem to be on top of things and eager to make things  
<NITF>But, clearly, somewhere, there's a disconnect that can lead to  
spectacular failures. Procedures need to be cleaned up, the lines of  
communication 
clearly established, and some accountability and common sense put  in p 
<NITF>Above all, the higher-ups at TSA and in the military have to understand 
 that they've got to change the way they do business. Otherwise, it's only a  
matter of time before someone gets injured or killed as a result of one of 
these  fou  
-- Stan Fetter  
manages Hyde Field in Clinton.

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