"Cessna 59 Bravo Charlie, what the hell you lookin' at?"
From this wire story about an airspace breach over Washington, D.C.:
"The incident began at 11:28 a.m., when Federal Aviation Administration radar picked up the aircraft, a small two-seater Cessna 150 with high wings, officials said. The aircraft breached the security zone over Washington, law enforcement officials said, prompting alerts across the city."
I can tell you right now that a Cessna 150 is filed on every Al Qaeda cell lead's Thinkpad under "Martyr Operation aircraft of very last resort, Insh'allah." It weighs less than a Ford Focus and has a usable cargo load of about 300 pounds, excluding the pilot. Packed with C-4 or some similar explosive, sure, it could cause trouble. I think our foes are still thinking bigger than this, however.
The airspace around the Capitol is delineated as an ADIZ airspace, which is basically barbed wire in the sky for general aviation pilots (like those of a Cessna 150). It's exceedingly well-documented and publicized for any pilot who opens a chart, calls for a flight briefing, or reads any aviation periodical. However, the fact that the government reaction to an aircraft of this size was to hustle every lawmaker of note out of his/her office and into a black Suburban convoy suggests that the Feds haven't figured out how to, er, nuance a proportionate response to security threats. As a pilot, I can see two sides of this one:
- Any legal pilot flying near Washington DC has to be nuts to come close to this airspace. In fact, it's printed with bright red hashmarks on a standard aeronautical chart.
- The government might not scramble $100M worth of security hardware every time a general aviation incursion occurs.
My conclusion? We live in an era that no longer believes it can afford common sense at any price. Sure, I'm probably just another pilot with a rant; I guess I have my reasons.
Update: Looks like these pilots were well-enough informed but apparently confused: "Troy was discussing with me last night after they made their flight plans all about the no-fly zones and how they were going to avoid them. He said they were going to fly between two different restricted areas." I guess I wouldn't even think of attempting that without a GPS.