I beg to differ. A plane within 3 miles of the Capital & WH can be there in a flash. I'd much prefer being safe than sorry. Plus, this reminds everyone to be on their toes.
So can a truck, so can a VW, so can a human suicide bomber. So are we going to require all cars and trucks to be in radio control in D.C.? Are we going to require all tourists to be in cell phone contact with GPS tracking? And then, when some car or truck or tourist doesn't check in, are we going to assume an attack is underway that threatens everyone downtown and evacuate the capital and the WH! Please! I guarantee you the much bigger threat to DC is from some dude with a backpack that unloads his nefarious arsenal during rush hour at Metro Center subway. Where is the security protecting that threat???!! Small airplanes are much more difficult to target precisely, carry too little payload to be effective and in all likelihood will never be involved in a real attack. What happened today is pure, unadulterated, illogical PARANOIA!
On the other hand, if half a dozen small planes are stolen on the same morning and are converging on Washington from different directions and all have their transponders turned off and refuse to respond to calls on the guard channel, and are flying in at 50 feet above the deck, then we might have a real attack underway. (Just like six stolen cars or trucks all converging on D.C. from different directions might be a threat). But what will be dangerous is what is on board the planes, not the planes themselves!!