Quote from Lord Stevens:
There are an estimated 8,500 private aircraft and up to 500 "landing sites" in Britain. However, there is no formal vetting from security authorities about who is landing and taking off
Sadly Lord Stevens seems to be clambering on to the Carlisle bandwagon - very depressing if you think about what manner of restriction regimes they are currently dreaming up. He also appears to have carried out absolutely zero research into the facts so this is becoming a cross party political torch which could have disastrous consequences for us pilots !
Below is a letter I sent back to the Telegraph which hopefully will be published. I will also be emailing AOPA to see if they can tackle Stevens direct !
Drambuster
Sir,
Lord Steven’s recommendations for a “Border Protection Service for the UK: Policy Proposals” is highly misleading with regard to the risk of entry into the UK by light aircraft. As a light aircraft pilot I can advise that the comments in your report that “there is no formal vetting from security authorities about who is landing and taking off” is completely inaccurate and raises the question as to how much research Lord Stevens actually carried out.
The facts are that any light aircraft crossing an international boundary within Europe has to file a Flight Plan that states your point of departure and arrival. Coming into the UK, where you are being tracked by numerous radar services, you have to arrive at a “Designated” airfield which have a regime in place to cover Immigration and Customs requirements. A pilot colleague of mine who failed to stop at the stipulated destination and in fact continued to a small strip was met by a black Police helicopter and had a lot of explaining to do.
In addition to the Flight Plan, the pilot in command has to file, in advance, a “General Aviation Report” which provides full details of all those on board including name, address, passport numbers, date/time/place of departure and arrival back into the UK. This report is faxed to Customs and Immigration and I would say that on around 80% of flights back to the UK we are met by an Immigration officer.
There is also full cooperation between the flying clubs, the members and the authorities to the extent that any suspicious movements would be reported within minutes. These airfields are also covered with ‘plane spotters’ carrying long lens cameras and their members association has a ‘reporting agreement’ in place with Immigration and the Police. A few years ago it might have been possible to sneak into the country, but not now.
So, Lord Stevens, get your facts right or these sensationalist headline grabbing proposals will end up with General Aviation being over controlled for no good reason. Presumably you will then move on to restrict the sailing fraternity to wreak havoc with another pleasurable pastime. You need to bear in mind that your over reaction is exactly what our terrorist foes are hoping to achieve.
Yours sincerely,