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Private Planes at Risk
General Aviation Airfields Still Lack Tightened Security

By Brian Ross

Sept. 3 — One year after 19 people hijacked airplanes, flying them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, security has not been improved at the country's small general aviation airports, an ABCNEWS investigation has found.

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Thousands of planes at hundreds of airports are still vulnerable to being stolen or hijacked.
John McClure's single engine Cessna plane was stolen on July 3 from an unguarded field in Tahoe, Calif., and hasn't been seen since.

"We got here little after 3 (p.m.), we drove in," recalled McClure, "and I thought, 'Where's my plane?'"

McClure's plane was one of seven planes stolen from small American airfields this year — and the second this summer. Under a new policy, the theft is being reported to the Secret Service and investigated by the FBI.

The FBI issued a nationwide alert the same day McClure's plane was stolen, warning that with improved security at large airports, "terrorists may choose to rent or steal general aviation aircraft housed at small airports with little or no security."

"I think we're finally getting to the point where we know that stolen airplanes are a serious problem in this country, as far as the government's concerned," said Bob Collins, the president of the Aviation Crime Prevention Institute. "Where in the past, the FBI couldn't become involved unless it was above a certain value. Now that's changed.

"All planes have become targets," he added.

Weak Link

"Unfortunately, we have disclosed the possibility of terrorists looking at our weakest link. When you have tens of thousands of aircrafts sitting on numerous airfields and general aviation facilities around the country, we are at risk," Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., the chairman of Congress' Subcommittee on Aviation, told ABCNEWS.

Even so, as Terry Florie discovered when his single engine Cessna plane was stolen from an Augusta, Ga., field in June, security around private aircraft has not been upgraded since Sept. 11.

"It generally shuts down around dark and opens back up around 7 the next morning," said Florie. "So generally there's nobody here between dark and about 7 a.m."

Security is much the same at small fields across the country. And despite the threat, the Federal Aviation Administration continues to issue pilot's licenses without photos, making for easy access to airplanes that pilots say would take no more than a minute or two to steal.

"You basically pick a lock to get into the plane, hotwire it and start it up and away you go," explained McClure. "The hardest part you need to know is how to fly it."

Planes Have Potential to be Damaging

The damage from a single-engine suicide plane attack would not likely be catastrophic. There was little structural damage when a 15-year-old student pilot flew his plane into a Tampa office building, killing himself, last January.

But if a plane were loaded with explosives or chemicals, officials say it could still make a powerful political statement aimed at a symbolic target.

"One of my fears is that they'll use one of these for a spectacular event against a large population centered at a sporting event or some other attraction," said Mica. "And that's a real concern for me."

While officials suspect many of the stolen planes are flown to Mexico and chopped up for parts, officials are well aware these are just the kinds of planes the September hijackers trained on and had initially planned to use in their suicide attacks.

Prominent Ohio Islamic leader indicted

By THOMAS J. SHEERAN

Associated Press

CLEVELAND - A prominent Islamic clergyman was arrested Tuesday on an indictment alleging he concealed links to groups that committed terrorist attacks against Jews when he applied for U.S. citizenship a decade ago, officials said.

Imam Fawaz Mohammed Damrah, who leads the Islamic Center of Cleveland, Ohio's largest mosque, is accused of withholding information on his membership or affiliation with several groups, including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, U.S. Attorney Gregory White said.

White said the indictment did not allege that Damrah, a Palestinian, committed any terrorist activities. The indictment did not specify what type of support Damrah may have provided to any of the groups.

Damrah, 41, who also uses the name Fawaz Damra, was charged with unlawfully obtaining U.S. citizenship by providing false or fraudulent information, White said. He gained citizenship in 1994.

If convicted, he could face loss of his citizenship, up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad has been identified by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization, White said.

Other groups for which Damrah is accused of concealing an affiliation or membership were Afghan Refugees Services Inc., also known as Al-Kifah Refugee Center, and the Islamic Committee for Palestine, also known as Islamic Concern Project.

Damrah has been a permanent resident in the United States since 1988, White said.

Damrah's past has been public knowledge for several years. White would not say why the indictment has been filed now.

"We are strictly dealing with issues, activities and incidents prior to his becoming a naturalized citizen and what he was required to disclose" to gain citizenship, White said.

Damrah represented the Islamic community at interfaith gatherings in Cleveland after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Then, local TV stations broadcast a videotape from a Chicago gathering 10 years earlier showing him making anti-Jewish comments in a speech. He called for rifles to be directed at Jewish people, and referring to them as "the sons of monkeys and pigs."

He apologized for the remarks, saying they were made before he had any interaction with Jews and Christians. But a local community college replaced him in late 2001 as the teacher of a course on Islam.