General aviation and flight training in the USA is about to be regulated into oblivio
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General aviation and flight training in the USA is about to be regulated into oblivio
General aviation and flight training in the USA is about to be regulated into oblivion…
AOPA President Phil Boyer appeared on three major news broadcasts this evening, including "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer" (PBS; 6 p.m. ET), "The News with Brian Williams" (MSNBC; 8 p.m. ET), and "The Point: Tracking the Terrorists" (CNN; 8:30 p.m. ET).
AOPA has presented a list of recommendations to the DOT and FAA asking for changes to our current regulations.
I truly believe the Boyer has no idea what he is doing here. In the wake of Sept 11, we had a flurry of politicians demanding new and stronger regulations for flight training in the USA, some were outright draconian essentially shutting down our flight schools to all but a small handful of foreign students.
As a former recovering CFI I can tell you from experience, if it were not for the foreign students I had at the time, I would still be time building!
Our Looney politicians never take things cautiously where laws and regs are concerned. These morons would legislate into oblivion anything if they thought it would get them re-elected.
And at present every grandma and soccer mom is so paranoid a kite can get lose and the local 911 switchboard lights up like a Christmas tree!!!
The recommendations include:
· Issue new, difficult-to-counterfeit pilot certificates (licenses) that would include a photograph of the pilot. First-time applicants would be required to show a government-issued photo ID to prove their country of citizenship before obtaining a U.S. pilot certificate.
· The U.S. government should review all existing and new pilot certificates to ensure that the pilots are not on any terrorist “watch lists.”
· Aircraft owners should take appropriate steps to prevent the theft of their aircraft.
· The identity of an individual renting or purchasing an aircraft should be verified by checking a government-issued photo ID.
· The pilot of a general aviation aircraft should verify the identity of all passengers, and ensure that those passengers know what's in their baggage and cargo.
· Pilots should be on the lookout for any suspicious activity on or near an airport, and should report that activity. Airports should post signs warning against tampering with aircraft or unauthorized use of aircraft, and include phone numbers for reporting suspicious activity.
· The Transportation Security Administration should develop a profile to identify individuals that should receive additional scrutiny before being permitted to buy or rent aircraft, receive pilot training, or work in areas that provide access to general aviation aircraft.
Now most of these items seem fairly sensible although the idea of a “difficult-to-counterfeit pilot certificate” is laughable to me. In this day and age the art of counterfeiting a certificate would be perfected before the ink was even dry on the legitimate ones!
The last one is kind of troublesome if you think about it. Coming from the same group who would oversee baggage screeners I could only imagine what polluted rules this would create.
But mainly my gripe lies in the “going a step further” area the other politicians are talking about.
Limiting the number of student visas for the sole purpose of flight training.
Levying a hefty tax on general aviation rentals and fuel to cover the added cost of the security that would be required to monitor the 5400 plus airports we have.
Barring G/A aircraft from Class B facilities and restricting the use of facilities that also have airline service.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg mind you. Once our “security conscious” officials get the momentum rolling our user fees will make touch-n-go’s at Heathrow seem cheap!
TP
AOPA President Phil Boyer appeared on three major news broadcasts this evening, including "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer" (PBS; 6 p.m. ET), "The News with Brian Williams" (MSNBC; 8 p.m. ET), and "The Point: Tracking the Terrorists" (CNN; 8:30 p.m. ET).
AOPA has presented a list of recommendations to the DOT and FAA asking for changes to our current regulations.
I truly believe the Boyer has no idea what he is doing here. In the wake of Sept 11, we had a flurry of politicians demanding new and stronger regulations for flight training in the USA, some were outright draconian essentially shutting down our flight schools to all but a small handful of foreign students.
As a former recovering CFI I can tell you from experience, if it were not for the foreign students I had at the time, I would still be time building!
Our Looney politicians never take things cautiously where laws and regs are concerned. These morons would legislate into oblivion anything if they thought it would get them re-elected.
And at present every grandma and soccer mom is so paranoid a kite can get lose and the local 911 switchboard lights up like a Christmas tree!!!
The recommendations include:
· Issue new, difficult-to-counterfeit pilot certificates (licenses) that would include a photograph of the pilot. First-time applicants would be required to show a government-issued photo ID to prove their country of citizenship before obtaining a U.S. pilot certificate.
· The U.S. government should review all existing and new pilot certificates to ensure that the pilots are not on any terrorist “watch lists.”
· Aircraft owners should take appropriate steps to prevent the theft of their aircraft.
· The identity of an individual renting or purchasing an aircraft should be verified by checking a government-issued photo ID.
· The pilot of a general aviation aircraft should verify the identity of all passengers, and ensure that those passengers know what's in their baggage and cargo.
· Pilots should be on the lookout for any suspicious activity on or near an airport, and should report that activity. Airports should post signs warning against tampering with aircraft or unauthorized use of aircraft, and include phone numbers for reporting suspicious activity.
· The Transportation Security Administration should develop a profile to identify individuals that should receive additional scrutiny before being permitted to buy or rent aircraft, receive pilot training, or work in areas that provide access to general aviation aircraft.
Now most of these items seem fairly sensible although the idea of a “difficult-to-counterfeit pilot certificate” is laughable to me. In this day and age the art of counterfeiting a certificate would be perfected before the ink was even dry on the legitimate ones!
The last one is kind of troublesome if you think about it. Coming from the same group who would oversee baggage screeners I could only imagine what polluted rules this would create.
But mainly my gripe lies in the “going a step further” area the other politicians are talking about.
Limiting the number of student visas for the sole purpose of flight training.
Levying a hefty tax on general aviation rentals and fuel to cover the added cost of the security that would be required to monitor the 5400 plus airports we have.
Barring G/A aircraft from Class B facilities and restricting the use of facilities that also have airline service.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg mind you. Once our “security conscious” officials get the momentum rolling our user fees will make touch-n-go’s at Heathrow seem cheap!
TP
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Could be, but consider...many general aviation airports have little or no fencing or security of any kind, other than a sign. Any reasonable kind of action that would prevent the theft of an aircraft or equipment would be a step in the right direction. Common sense should prevail, such as coded gated access.
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This is typical gross overreaction, fueled by a sensationalistic new media in the States. The lemmings and knuckleheads in the US (and there are a lot of them) have been conditioned by frightened liberals that everything must be 100% safe. And if it has to do with those nasty little unsafe airplanes, the more restrictions the better.
Never mind the fact that a suicide killer in a large car or truck can cause much more carnage than a deliberate airplane crash. But they don't want to hear that, because then it may affect THEM and their Chevy Suburban Land Yatchs instead of some poor guy trying to get his pilot's license.
Don't worry, this crap will blow over too when some idiot mows down people at the mall with a pogo stick -- then they'll be calling for abolition of those instead.
Never mind the fact that a suicide killer in a large car or truck can cause much more carnage than a deliberate airplane crash. But they don't want to hear that, because then it may affect THEM and their Chevy Suburban Land Yatchs instead of some poor guy trying to get his pilot's license.
Don't worry, this crap will blow over too when some idiot mows down people at the mall with a pogo stick -- then they'll be calling for abolition of those instead.
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Roadtrip, there are several previous instances of near-catastrophe and near-carnage involving light planes which did not result in widespread new restrictions. There was a light plane that crashed into the upper stand of the Baltimore Colts football (American-style) stadium shortly after a game had ended. Thirty minutes earlier, and it is likely hundreds could have been killed. And, not all that long ago, there was the light plane that crunched into the south facade of the White House, about 25 meters from the Oval office. Fifteen meters higher, and the plane would have hit smack-dab into the Presidential living quarters.
I don't recall the 'liberal' media calling for general aviation restrictions after those events.
I do recall that the current Administration, over the editorial objections of the 'liberal' press in Washington, closed DCA for three weeks, and then only reluctantly re-opening it to commercial flights (albeit emplying security measures not used at other US airports, like pre-screening and approving all flight crew flying DCA segments, air marshals on every flight, and the rather remarkable prohibition against passengers getting up out of their seats on flights landing at or departing DCA).
I don't recall the 'liberal' media calling for general aviation restrictions after those events.
I do recall that the current Administration, over the editorial objections of the 'liberal' press in Washington, closed DCA for three weeks, and then only reluctantly re-opening it to commercial flights (albeit emplying security measures not used at other US airports, like pre-screening and approving all flight crew flying DCA segments, air marshals on every flight, and the rather remarkable prohibition against passengers getting up out of their seats on flights landing at or departing DCA).
I've always wondered what the UK government would have done if the murderer at Dunblane had used a golf club rather than a firearm.....
Ownership of a hand gun is virtually illegal in the UK now; as usual, the nanny state visited the sins of one maniac upon the well regulated sport of many others. Now we see speculation that GA will be restricted in the US as a result of one disturbed individual? Time for a bit of commonsense, methinks?
Ownership of a hand gun is virtually illegal in the UK now; as usual, the nanny state visited the sins of one maniac upon the well regulated sport of many others. Now we see speculation that GA will be restricted in the US as a result of one disturbed individual? Time for a bit of commonsense, methinks?
