fess up who was it??
Dirt ( I was in canada) well that’s the story
NPR reported President Bush was “biking in Maryland” at the time if the incident.
Question for all you pilots. It seems they think these guys just wandered over DC. How do you accidentally fly into that airspace??? Wouldn’t you a.) know from your navigation and b.) from the numerous radio messages they must have gotten exactly where they were?
It depends on exactly where he was. It is really easy to violate airspace around there. My father managed to fly almost directly over Camp David once. Ouch.
A Cessna 152 is like the Geo Metro of the aviation world. I’ve seen motorcycles with more seating. What kind of stupid terrorist would use such a piece of crap?
“A Cessna 152 is like the Geo Metro of the aviation world. I’ve seen motorcycles with more seating. What kind of stupid terrorist would use such a piece of crap?”
You don’t need much leg room to strap some explosives onto a plane and fly it through the White House door.
Yah like the shoe bomber.
Dirt
I’ve been flying a Cessna 172 in the DC area for 15 years and the only explanation as to how this pilot wandered far into designated restricted airspace is that he was flying by the seat of his pants - VFR - with no help from VOR, DME or GPS. Another words, a total idiot and candidate for dumb ass of the year award. The restricted airspace leaps out at you on the charts and it’s incredibly inexcusable for him to violate the airspace. It created quite a disturbance in DC for those of us who remember the F-16s over the city on 9/11. I hope he loses his license over it.
Pre 9/11 the restricted airspace over Camp David never changed, whether the president was there or not. Now, the airspace around Camp David expands from 5 miles to 10 miles and 18,000 feet, when the president is there. Consequently, if you don’t get the notam (notice to airmen) you won’t know. In the months after 9/11 it seemed that every weekend a pilot was getting up close a personal with an F-16. AOPA does a great job of keeping members informed of the status over Camp David and issues this email to subscribers:
OPA ePilot Special Airspace Bulletin May 11, 2005
A special notice to AOPA members in and near central Maryland
==> ATTENTION PILOTS <==
CAMP DAVID TFR TO EXPAND THIS WEEKEND
Pilots flying in the Mid-Atlantic area are cautioned that the temporary flight restriction (TFR) area centered on Prohibited Area P-40, the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland, will grow larger. The TFR will extend to a 10-nautical-mile-radius below
18,000 feet beginning at 2:05 p.m. local on Friday, May 13, and
continuing through 12:10 p.m. local on Sunday, May 15.
During that time, the notam prohibits practice instrument approaches within the TFR. All operations (except military, law enforcement, and air ambulance) are prohibited within 5 nm up to 17,999 feet. Between 5 nm and 10 nm, aircraft must be on an active IFR or VFR flight plan with a discrete transponder code assigned by air traffic control and must maintain radio contact with ATC. All such flights must be for ingress, egress, or transit only. No flight training, aerobatic, glider, parachute, hang gliding, ultralight, aerial application, or animal control operations are permitted. Also, all aircraft departing from private airports are required be on a heading away from the center of P-40. See the full text of the notam and a graphic
( http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/notams.html#5/3645 ).
Because TFR airspace frequently changes, AOPA strongly encourages pilots to obtain a briefing and CHECK NOTAMS before every flight. TFR
violators will be intercepted and forced to land.
==> HELPFUL WEB LINKS <==
AOPA’s Real-Time Flight Planner provides graphical
depictions of TFRs ( http://www.aopa.org/flight_planner/ ).
Check the FAA’s TFR Web site ( http://tfr.faa.gov ).
Download the AOPA Air Safety Foundation’s intercept procedures card
( http://download.aopa.org/epilot/2003/intercept.pdf )or review ASF’s
“Know Before You Go” program ( http://www.aopa.org/asf/know_before/ ).
==> MAKE SURE YOU’RE PROTECTED <==
SIGN UP FOR AOPA’S LEGAL SERVICES PLAN
Because of the heavy call volume from members and the changing climate
for FAA regulations and increased vigilance, we want to remind you to
consider the AOPA Legal Services Plan protection. For more information
or to start your coverage immediately, call 800/USA-AOPA or visit AOPA
Online ( http://www.aopa.org/info/legalservices7/ ).
==> CONTACTING AOPA <==
-
If you have additional questions about TFRs or any other *
-
airspace or aviation matter, contact our AOPA Pilot Information *
-
Center at 800/USA-AOPA. You can also reach us via e-mail *
-
( mailto:pilotassist@aopa.org ). *
Having difficulty using this service?
Contact ( mailto:epilot@aopa.org ).
AOPA, 421 Aviation Way, Frederick, Maryland 21701.
Telephone: 800/USA-AOPA or 301/695-2000
Copyright (c) 2005. Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
Can you imagine the shock that guy must have experienced when 2 F16s started circling him and firing flares?
“A Cessna 152 is like the Geo Metro of the aviation world. I’ve seen motorcycles with more seating. What kind of stupid terrorist would use such a piece of crap?”
You don’t need much leg room to strap some explosives onto a plane and fly it through the White House door.
It’s also one of the slowest planes as well. Even in a full dive it would be slower than the slowest speed of the jet fighters.
Honestly if you were to choose a plane to do damage, this would be one of the worst. Tiny payload, extremely slow, high radar signature, not maneuverable, vfr flight only. The plane would have the same chance of reaching the White House door as an automobile would.
I did think it odd that they evacuated people from the buildings to the outside. I would think people would be at greater risk of dying if the plane was shot out of the sky. The falling debris would have a greater chance of killing people outside than inside.
All good points and with two souls on board this aircraft was at it’s max weight. I did my first flight in a 152 and the stall horn was going throughout most of the climb. The 152 is a miata in the aircraft world. But with a radiological bomb and no passenger it becomes a problem.
I agree with tootall, why fly VFR, which means flying visually, when you can fly IFR, which means your talking to a controller the whole time and he tells you where to go, especially in THAT area, sheeeeeeeesh
.
I’m not disagreeing that there might be better planes for the job. However, it seems like this one made it into D.C. airspace, which is plenty far enough to do some damage if he just flew straight down into whatever monument or govt type building was closest. These guys aren’t running multi-million dollar organizations. They play with the toys they can get their hands on.
That’s the point, you couldn’t really do much damage. You could pack the plane with explosives, getting to target and actually getting the explosives to blow up are another thing. The plane did wander into DC airspace, but they could have blown it up if it even hinted any movement towards the ground. It would have been impossible for that plane to get anywhere near the ground unless the fighter pilots were the most imcompetent pilots in the world.
As far as radiolocal or biolocal weapons go, it might be possible to use a 152 for dispersion, but you could also use a ford pinto. Heck, you could spread material on a bicycle with good success if you had the right materials. And you wouldn’t risk getting vaporized by missiles.
If the only thing the terrorists can get is a 152, then we should be extremely thankful. We should be so lucky if that’s how small their resources are.
I agree with tootall, why fly VFR, which means flying visually, when you can fly IFR, which means your talking to a controller the whole time and he tells you where to go, especially in THAT area, sheeeeeeeesh
A VFR plane usually does not carry the navigation equipment that an IFR plane would, such as GPS. That instrumention could be used for precision guidance.
He could have also asked for VFR flight following, which means he is talking to a controller as well.
They should just restirct that whole area to IFR aircraft only
About 15 yrs ago we rented a 172 on the east coast , even VFR pilots stayed on a flight following / radar freq. . Due to the flat ground they like to build 1000 ft plus radio antennas , that the controllers would direct you around . We passed one that looked like 1300 ft high . Can’t see why you would have trouble, if you stayed on a radar freq.
It’s Class B airspace and very well controlled. This pilot not only busted restricted airspace he busted Class B airspace which requires the pilot to obtain permission and a special transponder designation from a controller before entry. This guy claims he was flying on outdated charts. I started flying in DC 15 years ago and the White House area has always been restricted and National Airport to 10 miles out has always been Class B airspace. He’s an embarrassment to all pilots. Rant over.
He was a student pilot, right?