Posted on 12/29/2003 5:30:08 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
By Jace Radke
<jace@lasvegassun.com>
LAS VEGAS SUN
Temporary flight restrictions around the Las Vegas Strip on New Year's Eve remain a possibility to help safeguard the 300,000 tourists expected to celebrate in Las Vegas, according Sheriff Bill Young.
As of this morning the Federal Aviation Administration had not established any flight restrictions around Las Vegas, but sources said that the decision has been made to ask for a temporary no-fly zone around the Strip on New Year's Eve.
The zone would stretch 20 miles around the Strip from 9 p.m. until 3 a.m., effectively grounding all private planes at municipal airports in North Las Vegas and Henderson, as well as helicopter tour companies and media helicopters, according to a source close to New Year's security planning.
Young, who said he wouldn't announce specific plans regarding New Year's Eve for security reasons, said that he has been in constant contact with Homeland Security officials and that there are no specific threats against Las Vegas.
"Obviously the Las Vegas name keeps coming up because we are the largest open- air event in the country," Young said. "Certainly we don't want a lot of unknown aircraft flying above it."
Commercial airlines, military aircraft and law enforcement aircraft are exempt from temporary flight restrictions, meaning that McCarran International Airport and Nellis Air Force Base would not be affected by any restrictions, an FAA official said.
Requests for flight restrictions can be made to various government agencies, including the FBI, CIA and Department of Homeland Security, which determine whether the restrictions are needed. If flight restrictions are appropriate the agency directs the FAA to institute the agreed-upon measures by sending out a notice on its website.
Temporary flight restrictions are fairly common, FAA spokesman Don Walker said.
"The sports stadium (temporary flight restriction) has been in effect for the last couple of years," Walker said. "Anytime there are more than 30,000 people at a stadium it comes into play."
Silver State Helicopters owner Jerry Airola said that while he plans to run tours of the Strip on New Year's Eve, he won't complain if the police ground the tours.
"If the sheriff has reason to believe it's not safe, we're OK with the loss of revenue," Airola said. "Sometimes law enforcement knows things the public doesn't."
If tours are allowed, Airola said his company would probably run between 12 and 20 Strip flights on New Year's Eve. He estimated the company would bring in about $5,000 total if it ran 15 Strip tours that night.
"It's not a huge amount," he said.
A representative of Desert Odyessy Tours, a company that runs helicopter flights over the Strip, said that flight restrictions on New Year's Eve wouldn't hurt its business much.
"We don't run many flights on New Year's because quite honestly people are at the spot they want to party at and then the crowds get so big that they can't really leave," said the representative, who declined to give her name. "The safety factor is the most important thing, especially this year."
Despite the reports of possible terrorist attacks against Las Vegas, and the nation being at the second-highest security alert level, hundreds of thousands of revelers are still expected to make Las Vegas their New Year's Eve destination.
According to data gathered by the Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Authority, as of today there had yet to be any backlash from reports of possible terror activity, including a report by the Washington Post stating that Air France flights from Paris to Los Angeles may have been part of a hijacking plot aimed at Las Vegas or other cities. Local and state authorities disputed that report.
"Our call center has seen a steady stream of calls from visitors coming to town and looking to book rooms," LVCVA spokeswoman Marina Nicola said. "We're expecting 300,000 people, up 3.5 percent over 2002.
"All our systems are up and running, and we haven't seen any effect from the higher security level."
Hotels are expected to be 99.1 percent full for the annual celebration that includes a midnight fireworks display and the closing of the Strip to vehicles when the crowds start to spill off the sidewalks.
Young has said that for the most part Metro Police will continue to handle the celebration as in past years, relying on metal barricades and fencing, horses and hundreds of officers to control crowd flow.
Authorities are asking that backpacks, satchels and large bags not be brought to the Strip or to the Fremont Street Experience this year, not so much because of the terror alert level, but because of the damage that bottles and cans can do, Deputy Chief Carl Fruge said.
"Every year we have people who try to smuggle in magnums of champagne and bottles, and those things can become dangerous flying missiles," said Fruge, who added that, as in past years, cans and bottles are banned from the celebration. "If people bring backpacks and bags they can expect to be searched by officers, and that could make for a long night when you consider that officers will be stationed up and down Las Vegas Boulevard."
The Strip will eventually be shut down to automobile traffic from Russell Road to Sahara Avenue, and off-ramps from Interstate 15 to Las Vegas Boulevard between Russell and Sahara will be closed as the crowd grows.
Downtown the emergency operations center at the Clark County Government Center will, as usual, be the command post for Metro Police and other local authorities Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
The FBI's local emergency operations center has been staffed and running since Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge moved the security level from yellow to orange on Dec. 21.
The FBI typically staffs a command center during New Year's in Las Vegas, but not at the scale that an orange alert requires, FBI spokesman Todd Palmer said.
Fears were heightened last week when Air France canceled six flights after U.S. officials told French authorities that members of the al-Qaida terrorist network may try to board an Air France flight between Paris and Los Angeles.
France's national carrier resumed flights to Los Angeles on Friday, and no arrests were made in connection with the report. Counterintelligence agents released seven men after a brief questioning late Wednesday at Charles de Gaulle Airport outside Paris.
French authorities said they found no evidence of a possible Christmas Day terror plot to use an aircraft to attack American targets.
Las Vegas is among 48 cities recognized by the government as having a high enough profile to be possible terrorist target.
Security has been tightened in and around Las Vegas over the past week.
At Hoover Dam vehicle checks have been stepped up on the Nevada and Arizona sides of the structure. Boat patrols are upstream and downstream of the dam on the Colorado River, and tractor-trailers, full-sized buses and large recreational vehicles continue to be banned from crossing the dam.
At Nellis Air Force Base the security level has been raised from Alpha to Bravo. Nellis has four security levels -- Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta, with Delta being the highest. Additional searches of vehicles and added security patrols are signs that security has increased at McCarran International Airport, where about 15 additional Metro officers have been assigned.
Terrorism has been linked to Las Vegas in the past, with five of the hijackers involved in the Sept. 11 attacks visiting Las Vegas during the summer of 2001. Also, alleged members of a terrorist sleeper cell who were arrested in Detroit reportedly had videotape of the MGM Grand and Disneyland.
VIVA LAS VEGAS!
They would have to ban all foreign aircraft.
Did everyone see this? Or am I pair-a-noid? :-)
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