[JYO] GA banned from Washington, D.C., for inauguration

 
GA banned from Washington, D.C., for  inauguration
D.C.'s mayor and AOPA's Boyer incensed over  closures
For eight hours on Inauguration Day, Washington, D.C., and the skies for  
miles around it, will be completely off-limits to general aviation. Similarly,  
the streets of the nation's capital will be closed to vehicular traffic.  
Security officials have declared that President Bush's inauguration on January  
20 
is a "national security event," and the FAA, responding to orders from the  
Defense and Homeland Security departments, has issued a _flight advisory_ 
(http://www.faa.gov/newsroom/inaugaration/flight_advisory.pdf)  prohibiting all 
general aviation VFR flight  within or above the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan 
Air Defense Identification  Zone (ADIZ). 
"This is yet another example of GA being made a scapegoat in the name of  
security," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "All the evidence shows that GA  
aircraft do not pose a significant security threat â especially when compared 
to  
the devastation an airliner could cause. Yet the airlines are allowed to fly  
freely while GA pilots are essentially grounded." 
The GA ban is in effect from 10 a.m. through 6 p.m. The only exception is for 
 IFR aircraft landing or departing Washington Dulles International and  
Baltimore-Washington International airports, but the FAA anticipates that the 
GA  
ramps at both airports will fill up with VIP aircraft. Once all the parking is  
taken, even IFR aircraft will be diverted to airports outside the ADIZ. 
AOPA is not alone in questioning the over-the-top security measures  
surrounding the coming inauguration. Washington Mayor Anthony Williams has  
complained 
that multiple checkpoints and street closures imposed in advance of  the 
inauguration are excessive, snarling traffic, damaging businesses, impacting  
tourism, and choking commerce in the capital city. 
"The GA community understands the need for reasonable security measures  
around the inauguration," Boyer added. "What we don't understand is why the  
measures being taken for this inauguration are so extreme. These measures are  
unnecessarily displacing thousands of pilots, restricting their freedom, and  
resulting in loss of income for those who use GA to conduct their business." 
AOPA continues to question the need for the ADIZ at all, arguing that it is  
an inappropriate "solution" to a nonexistent problem. "A small airplane 
weighing  less than a large SUV and traveling at 120 mph just doesn't pose the 
same 
kind  of threat â or create as narrow a response window â as a fully loaded 
airliner  traveling at 400 mph," Boyer explained. "The ADIZ simply doesn't 
reflect those  differences. All it does is restrict GA without doing anything 
to 
protect  Washington and its citizens from terrorists." 
January 6,  2005

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