[JYO] Plane That Caused Capitol Evacuation Nearly Shot Down

Plane That Caused Capitol Evacuation Nearly Shot Down 


By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 8, 2004; Page A01 


The top general at the North American Aerospace Defense Command was on the 
telephone and prepared to order an F-16 fighter to shoot down an unidentified 
plane that turned out to be carrying the governor of Kentucky to former 
president Ronald Reagan's funeral last month, according to two federal security 
officials briefed separately about the incident. 

The tense incident June 9 ended after the twin-engine Beechcraft King Air 
carrying Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) turned to land at Reagan National Airport. But 
the close call caused officials to reassess safeguards for the airspace around 
Washington and prompted calls to expand the no-fly zone beyond its current 
16-mile radius.

Although many planes have violated restrictions imposed after the Sept. 11, 
2001, terrorist attacks, the June 9 episode was extraordinary because the 
aircraft penetrated so deeply into the no-fly zone during a high-security event 
and remained unidentified to air defense officials for several critical 
minutes. Current and former homeland security officials said the incident was a 
significant security breakdown.

The episode, described by some officials as the closest the government has come 
to downing a civilian plane over Washington since Sept. 11, 2001, will be the 
subject of two hearings on Capitol Hill today. Civil aviation officials will 
testify before a House subcommittee on aviation, and military officials have 
been invited to a classified briefing before the House Armed Services and 
Homeland Security committees.

"Even without the communications breakdowns involved in Governor Fletcher's 
flight, serious questions remain about the adequacy of our air defense system," 
said Rep. Jim Turner (Tex.), ranking Democrat on the House Select Committee on 
Homeland Security. "Does the existing no-fly zone around our nation's capital 
give sufficient time to intercept a terrorist controlled flight?" 

A spokesman for the commander of NORAD, Air Force Gen. Ralph E. "Ed" Eberhart, 
would not comment on the handling of the incident, saying that rules of 
engagement are classified. But he and others pointed out that protocols were 
followed and that the air defense system as a whole is providing unprecedented 
security. 

"The fact that the plane landed without incident June 9 indicates that 
interagency coordination procedures developed since 9/11 work," said the 
spokesman, Michael Kucharek.

A reconstruction, based in part on interviews with officials who spoke on 
condition they not be named, has revealed new details. Senior officials at two 
federal agencies who are familiar with how the air defense system worked that 
day said a fighter plane sent to intercept Fletcher's plane initially could not 
make visual contact because of cloud cover.

As a result, Eberhart did not issue the order to shoot down Fletcher's plane, 
according to the two officials, as well as a third government official who was 
briefed later on the incident. Interviews and a timeline prepared by 
congressional investigators also show that Fletcher's plane turned to land 
before it was identified. 

"They had the general on the phone, and he was in position to make the call. . 
. . This was the closest we have come to making that difficult decision, 
triggering a chain of events that could be pretty horrific," one official said.

The air defense system for Washington is unique, and many of its operations are 
classified. Unveiled in January 2003, the system was created to track all 
flights and to intercept aircraft that do not follow strict protocols. It 
replaced the fighter patrols that guarded the nation's capital beginning Sept. 
11, 2001, a defense that was costly and did not provide federal authorities 
with the tools to investigate whether there were patterns in the violations.

The defense system includes a no-fly zone that bars most air traffic from a 
ring that extends 16 miles from the Washington Monument -- the major exception 
being commercial flights to and from National Airport. A larger restricted 
zone, the D.C. Air Defense Identification Zone, extends to about 50 miles from 
Washington and requires pilots to identify their aircraft, activate 
identification beacons and stay in two-way radio contact with air controllers.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement helicopters and Cessna jets patrol the zone 
unarmed, while air defense artillery on the ground and fighter jets on alert or 
on irregular air patrols are poised to intercept an intruder.

On June 9, the Beechcraft King Air was flying with a broken transponder, a 
device that transmits an identifying signal picked up by ground controllers. 
After takeoff, the pilot, as required, notified Federal Aviation Administration 
officials in Ohio about the problem at 2:56 p.m.

But the FAA failed to notify military and homeland security officials, who 
monitored separate radar displays, about the broken transponder. To everyone 
but the FAA, radar showed an unidentified intruder entering restricted 
Washington airspace at 4:24 p.m.

At 4:31, with the plane a minute or two from downtown Washington, officials 
ordered the evacuation of the U.S. Capitol, where thousands had gathered to 
await the arrival of Reagan's coffin. The FAA reported to air defense 
authorities that it was in contact with the plane three minutes later, as the 
aircraft made the final approach to National Airport.

The Beechcraft was traveling at roughly 240 miles per hour, or four miles a 
minute. At that speed, it could have reached the center of the no-fly zone in 
four minutes. 

Customs officials said it took their Black Hawk helicopter four minutes to 
launch that afternoon, quicker than the designated scramble time. Military 
fighters happened to be on intermittent air patrols that day, but their 
standard scramble time from the ground is 15 minutes.

For security officials, a key factor is how little time they had to identify 
Fletcher's aircraft and make critical decisions. One senior federal security 
official who has studied the incident said the chances of shooting down the 
plane would have been "50-50" given the time sequence.

The official said the current system is prepared to stop a second assault, as 
was the case Sept. 11, not a first attack. Expanding the restricted flight zone 
-- or a more radical move, such as closing National Airport -- would be 
required to provide a greater level of security, he said.

Some House investigators are pushing the Transportation Security Administration 
to improve coordination between a half-dozen agencies. Officials at the TSA and 
the Pentagon have revived calls for the FAA to expand the restricted flight 
zones, which would build in more time to make and execute decisions.

Close calls in the past have prompted changes. On June 19, 2002, a Cessna flew 
over the capital area before it could be intercepted, prompting the evacuation 
of Vice President Cheney from the White House. Military officials at the time 
acknowledged that aircraft could reach targets in Washington before they were 
intercepted by fighters on ground alert. 

Authority for air patrols to shoot down a civilian aircraft, once limited to 
the president, has been delegated to the secretary of defense and his deputy; 
to Eberhart, as NORAD commander; and to the commander of NORAD's continental 
U.S. region in Florida, Air Force Maj. Gen. Craig R. McKinley. McKinley has 
said orders to shoot down aircraft are practiced "probably eight to 15 times a 
week."

A senior federal security official said the process involved in firing 
ground-based air defenses operated by the Army or Army National Guard is more 
complex and needs refinement. Some military officials initially questioned the 
value of installing short-range missile systems, saying the range and reaction 
time made their use unlikely. 

Customs agents with submachine guns are trained to shoot from the Black Hawks 
and have authority to use lethal force if their lives or the lives of others 
are endangered, said Charles E. Stallworth II, director of air and marine 
operations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

Homeland security officials, although aware of limitations, say the system in 
place is working well and has added layers of protection unavailable on Sept. 
11, 2001.

Randy Beardsworth, head of the Department of Homeland Security directorate that 
includes the TSA and customs enforcement, said advanced radar, computer 
databases and other tools used by the multi-agency system provide an 
unprecedented early warning system.

More than 2,000 aircraft "of interest" have been detected over Washington 
airspace since January 2003, Beardsworth said. The number of aircraft violating 
the no-fly zone fell from 164 in the six months before Jan. 20, 2003, to 30 
after that date through May, 14, 2004. 

All 30 intruders were successfully identified, Beardsworth said. By comparison, 
another federal official said that two years ago, military jets could identify 
and intercept only about 40 percent of intruders in training drills.

Beardsworth, however, said he does not disagree with those who say the system 
may not be geared to stop a determined attacker. Like other security officials, 
he noted that the system's limits are forced by political compromises between 
security and civilian aviation interests.

Beardsworth said that shooting down hostile aircraft is the responsibility of 
the Defense Department, not his agency.

"Our role is to help them by having a clear picture when they have to make that 
tough decision," he said. "Can you imagine how much tougher the decision would 
be if you didn't have the ability to deter small craft from coming in, if you 
didn't have the ability to fly out there, detect, identify and deter?" 


- - - 
List admin: Ed@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Web: www.leesburgpilots.com Previously sent 
messages (archives): http://www.freelists.org/archives/jyo/ To unsubscribe, 
send an e-mail to: jyo-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx and type "unsubscribe" (without 
the quotes) in the Subject line of the email.  Tell your Leesburg Flying 
friends to subscribe by sending an e-mail to: jyo-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx and put 
"subscribe" (without the quotes) in the Subject line of the email.

Other related posts: