[JYO] Washington Post article - JYO mentioned...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55560-2001Oct1.html

FAA Weighs Easing Small-Plane Curbs 
Stranded Aircraft Could Be Removed From Airports in 2 No-Fly Zones

By Don Phillips and Sara Kehaulani Goo
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, October 2, 2001; Page A10 

The Federal Aviation Administration said yesterday that it is considering a 
plan to temporarily allow small private planes that have been grounded in the 
Washington and New York areas since the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings to move 
out of the restricted areas starting Friday.

While commercial airline operations are gradually getting back to normal, 
general-aviation aircraft -- smaller planes that are not commercial or 
military -- still operate under tight restrictions that have prevented more 
than 41,000 planes from flying. The grounding has placed airports that cater 
to general aviation in danger of bankruptcy and led to layoffs and shutdowns 
in the aviation manufacturing business.

For instance, New Piper Aircraft Inc. is in the middle of a two-week shutdown 
because the flying restrictions mean it cannot deliver new planes, and it has 
run out of storage space, according to Shelly Snyder Simi, vice president of 
the General Aviation Manufacturers Association.

In addition, foreign-registered general-aviation aircraft -- including 
Canadian and Mexican planes -- are forbidden to fly into U.S. airspace, which 
has created problems for companies that do a lot of business with the United 
States, according to Simi.

Many small-plane pilots are frustrated because a hodgepodge of security rules 
has produced inconsistent policies. For instance, student pilots are allowed 
to fly solo in restricted areas as part of their flight training, but their 
flight instructors are forbidden to fly unless the student is in the plane.

"This is absurd," said Phil Boyer, president of the Aircraft Owners and 
Pilots Association, in a message on the group's Web site.

The activities of general-aviation aircraft are currently controlled in two 
ways. The Department of Transportation has restricted all general-aviation 
aircraft within 25 nautical miles (about 29 miles) of Washington's Reagan 
National and New York's John F. Kennedy International airports.

In addition, there are restrictions around other major cities, although they 
are not as strict as those for Washington and New York. In those places, 
planes can fly under instrument flight rules -- generally meaning they are 
under the control of air traffic controllers. But no flights are allowed 
under "visual flight rules," meaning low-level flights with the pilot solely 
responsible for avoiding other aircraft.

To assist pilots in the Washington and New York areas, the FAA is circulating 
a draft plan that would allow them to move to unrestricted areas. The plan 
specifies time periods between Friday and Tuesday when planes could leave 
airports within the no-fly zone. A flight plan would first have to be filed 
with air traffic controllers. Planes would not be allowed to arrive at 
airports in the no-fly zone. After Tuesday, the no-fly zone would be 
restored. The plan would also need the approval of the FBI and the National 
Security Council.

Several managers of regional-aviation airports said they are happy that the 
FAA wants to lift some restrictions on Friday, but they said the proposal 
would help only the stranded pilots, not the small airports that serve 
general-aviation planes. Several airports have already laid off several dozen 
employees or sharply reduced their hours of operation.

It's "good for the transient people who were trapped here," said Lee Schiek, 
manager of College Park Airport. "On the flip side, it concerns me. It takes 
the pressure off of decision makers on the long-term decision" about the 
no-fly zone. "We still have people who are economically dying out here."

If general-aviation planes are allowed to depart, Montgomery County Airpark 
manager Wendy C. Carter said, she expects 70 planes to leave. But that 
wouldn't help the situation at the airport, where only a dozen of the 
airport's 81 employees are still working.

In fact, Carter said the plan would create more problems for the region's 
general-aviation airports because the owners of many planes grounded within 
the 25-mile zone would rush to move their aircraft. "We think we are unfairly 
singled out," Carter said.

"We want the same air space availability that everyone else has." Citing the 
three weeks of restrictions, Carter said: "I've become angry. I've gone from 
being frustrated to being angry."

Officials of airports outside the no-fly zone said they have received dozens 
of calls from pilots interested in moving their planes. Charlie Abell, 
airport manager at Frederick Municipal Airport in Maryland, said he is 
expecting 100 planes from Gaithersburg, Bowie, College Park and Annapolis.

"We've asked the FAA air traffic folks to look into getting us a temporary 
tower in anticipating that we'd get a lot of aircraft here," Abell said.

Doug McNeeley, airport director of Leesburg Executive Airport, which is 
outside the restricted area, said pilots will likely want to move their 
planes to his airport and others nearby, but he has limited space for 
additional aircraft.

He said he has 166 planes on a waiting list for long-term parking space. 
"When we're out of those [spaces], that will pretty much be it for general 
aviation," McNeeley said. When the available space fills up, he said, "there 
will be no choice but to tell them we can't accommodate them."

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