Evacuation of Capital now! (Update: FNC: White House Secret Service gives all clear signal)

Fox News

[pitinkie]

Capital and WH being evacuated.."full running evac"

[relee]

LOL ;)
Not many palm trees in DC, though.

[tomkat]

Pilot was 'unresponsive' to radio contact attempts.

[Ramius]

So... how long should they wait... until they can see the plane from the WH, so they know whether its a big plane or a little plane?

[Mamzelle]

Front seat?

[ProudVet77]

What makes you think it's BS. We easily have the technology. One Hawkeye or AWACs can watch every aircraft in 200NM in all directions with no problem. Even the latest MH-60R helicopter can track 255 aircraft.

ericthecurdog - The military uses DGPS. Rather than talk about it, just google it. It's really accurate. You are right about the clouds, I have a Garmin 12, el cheapo handheld I use when sailing, it's accuracy is not the least bit effected by weather.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Hmmm. "Two" makes a conspiracy.

But "extra passengers" have "disappeared" before.

[alisasny]

Now would be a perfect time for a terrorist on a plane to fly into the area.

Seriously..this Press Conference is a big joke.

[HairOfTheDog]

And your suggestion of how to protect is? Just hope? Are you just playing devil's advocate here?

My suggestion is that we do what we did today.... we do what makes sense, and not what the most panicky person suggests every time something happens. My suggestion is to think. My reality is that no matter what we try to do, human beings will remain not completely predictable and not completely controllable.

[CitizenM]

I don't think they evacuated everybody in town.

But, since they did not know where it might have been heading...and even if it was a small plane - it could have crashed into some office window, caused a fire or enough damage to harm/hurt, even kill someone. Just protecting one life makes it worthwhile to evacuate, IMHO. I would not want to be in the one place that even a small plane purposely crashed.

[Tatze]

See my other replies. I contend that a U-Haul is a greater threat than a small plane.

[ARCADIA]

refused to converse by radio? Now, that's ominous...

Not at all...he was probably just tuned to the wrong frequency.

Small airplanes are not like airliners. They have only very basic instrumentation and the pilots are often inexperienced. The guy probably had a gyro compass, a radio direction finder, a radio and a paper chart. It is not a very sophisticated system. He is flying VFR, is not in direct radio contact with any flight control center, and it is easy to go astray.

[Mr. D]

I work and live in this area, after experiencing 9/11 first hand, I appreciate the efforts of all agencies regarding the event of today.

[al baby]

For the white house press corps

[ProudVet77]

do they normally know what type of aircraft it is?

The military has that ability.

[ClancyJ]

Right - I agree they did the right thing today.

I can just hear all the media IF NOTHING HAD BEEN DONE AND A HIT WAS MADE. Bush would have been impeached even though he was busy riding a bike at the time.

[uncitizen]

Another reporter or two were trying to get into that old "what was the President doing during those first minutes?".....Disgusting pigs!

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Since 9/11, no-fly zone has been 25 miles, per McClellan.

Twenty-two miles of no-contact flight.

Plane turned west at 12:11. Eight minutes of flight heading to WH.

[Woodman]

"Good question. It's raining lead."

Did the EPA approve of this action? Was an enviromental impact study done and approved?

[Rio]

Military intercept procedures are clear and are known to all licensed pilots. Radio contact is not required.

http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsitems/2001/010918intercept.html

[sageb1]

"But, since they did not know where it might have been heading...and even if it was a small plane - it could have crashed into some office window, caused a fire or enough damage to harm/hurt, even kill someone. Just protecting one life makes it worthwhile to evacuate, IMHO. I would not want to be in the one place that even a small plane purposely crashed."

I had a small plane fly so low over my house last year that I actually got up and ran downstairs. I was not a happy camper. I thought it was going to come through an upstairs window.