Much, much easier to buy a junker car for cash or just nick one.
Fill the boot with that well advertised spectre, "liquid explosives" (if anybody can get a practical recipe) or whatever is going boom in Iraqi marketplaces.
"Due to the possible threat of light aircraft being used by terrorists, all GA aircraft will now be grounded indefinitely and private pilots detained for up to 42 days without charge!"
what is to stop someone getting a PA28 filling it with explosives and flying it in to a building or aircraft on the ground at a major airport? I can think of at least twenty airfields within 15 minutes of every major airfield in the UK....
what is to stop someone getting a PA28 filling it with explosives and flying it in to a building or aircraft on the ground at a major airport? I can think of at least twenty airfields within 15 minutes of every major airfield in the UK....
1 PA28 = Maybe 1000lbs HE top wack, requires loading generally in a public reasonably defined area, needs specialist skill to fly, doesn't have the momentum to puncture into the structural components of a building
1 transit van = probably 4000lbs HE. Can be rented anywhere, parked anywhere, be driven by anyone.
1 44 Tonne Lorry = 80,000 lb HE (and still not overloaded), can be loaded at any farm/lockup/back alley, Can be rented or hijacked, requires limited skill beyond driving a car to conduct basic operations. Can easily go inside/underneath buildings, bridges, tunnels to cause massive damage to kafir.
From what I just heard on Radio 4, Lord Carlisle says that some senior police officers are concerned about both light aircraft being used as bombs and executive jets being hijacked. There is absolutely no evidence of either and this kind of thinking means we have lost the "war".
No doubt this Stasi approach will lead to British Transport police doing spot checks on us at airports now. Where will this madness go next, because I suspect it will never end?
Do you know, when Alex Carlile was MP for Montgomeryshire I knew him and he was a very big supporter of the development of Welshpool Airfield.
Since he quit being an MP and took on his various jobs (for the Private Eye readers amongst us his 20 minutes of wasted court time as a QC over the nutritional value of what a prisoner had been fed during the court lunch break was enlightening....) for this appaling, shambolic Government he appears to have become an aviation-hating, common sense removed pariah.
It's such a shame as he was totally for everything GA stood for, taking lots of flights in everything going to get an understanding of how Welshpool Airport would help the local community and now he's producing this sort of tosh.
It's costing more and more to enjoy a hobby which was once revered (well, sort of!) or at least respected - what next? Security sweeps of a Cherokee and CRB checks to go with your medical or licence issue....?!
Someone please tell me what's going wrong in this bloody country...?
This is where the big disconnect comes in understanding the true threat. Pilots nearly universally laugh at the idea of using light airplanes for a terrorist action. A light airplane has little chance of doing much damage, most say. However, those who believe this really do miss the big picture.
A light airplane gets used for a terrorist function. A few people die. A little damage is done. Fair enough.
However...overnight your flight schools shut down, and don't reopen. (in the US, after 09/11, a third of the flight schools in the country went out of business). General aviation comes to a near standstill. You can't even visit your own airplane again without a pass, and often an escort. You're fingerprinted a dozen times, the subject of multiple security clearances, and when you do go fly, you're intercepted in your PA-28 by a fighter that is prepared to shoot you down. IFR flight plans required for everything. The costs go up. Screening is in effect at your local airport. Medical flights, freight flights, traffic reporting, you name it...all severely curtailed, delayed, stopped, cancelled...and suddenly you're in the same position as the US.
The amount of damage done in the US following 09/11 was enormous. Not from the damage to the world trade center, though that was tragic. The real damage was the fear, the terror, and the economic impact particularly to general aviation. You see two or three light airplanes in the UK used for such an activity and it won't matter if a single soul is hurt or killed, or if a single pound, euro, or dollar is lost. The psychological damage, the publicity, the outcry will be enough that whatever limited flying you get to do now will be gone and probably won't be back.
The real threat is what comes afterward. For that reason alone, it's something that every single pilot should take very seriously. Very, very seriously. Act and watch accordingly, because it only takes once.
Many think in terms of the damage caused by localised targeted delivery. Light aircraft have very limited capability in this regard. The concern arises from the use of light aircraft for more widely targeted delivery.
However, it is vital we balance the right to our freedom as pilots with the risks. Unfortunately the agenda is not as clear cut as you would wish to believe.
Never the less vigiliance is vital and in that respect we all have our part to play.
The press on the other hand would far rather run with an ill thought out report which demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of the risks involved and the reasons for a degree of concern.
In his latest, Lord Carlile highlights the risk of terrorists hijacking executive jets which travel at high-speed across continents. Although there is said to be no intelligence about this, Lord Carlile said senior police officers had concerns, given the large number of private aircraft and small airfields.
So there's no intelligence to suggest this would ever happen. Why not act on the intelligence saying things that are likely to happen, and worry about them?
In his latest, Lord Carlile highlights the risk of terrorists hijacking executive jets which travel at high-speed across continents.
Although there is said to be no intelligence about this, Lord Carlile said senior police officers had concerns, given the large number of private aircraft and small airfields.
Probably anticipating the growing market in VLJ's and how on earth, banal ACPO inspired programmes such as "Street Wars" are going to script the chase scene.
"London Control - right, right, right - southbound L980 towards Avant. Cessna Mustang - G-BOLX - failing to stop. Request all units deploy with aerial stinger at Kathy"
I would leave the clause "there is said to be no intelligence" - with a plurality of meanings.
With sincere apologies - if any good soul has registered his a/c with the above reg- my will to check SRG's G-INFO has expired
No doubt this Stasi approach will lead to British Transport police doing spot checks on us at airports now.
a) there aren't enough plod/special branch/customs to be present at all the airstrips in the country
b) there aren't enough military a/c to be able to intercept all possible threats by air
Solution - ground GA
Nice one Lord Carlisle - NIMBY God. You are a gift to those who wish to shut down aviation, and, as a supposed Liberal, you should be ashamed of yourself.
And if Mr Opik is listening in, perhaps he could earn his salary and explain to Lord Carlisle he is talking b*ll*cks.
I sincerely hope that AOPA, the GA Alliance and all our representative bodies - including the CAA - will ensure that this half-*rsed piece of rubbish is filed where it deserves to be.
Light aircraft "could be bombs"
