Pilot Detained After Veering Near Bush Motorcade (details)

Reuters ^ | July 24, 2003 | Reuters

[FairOpinion]

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A man piloting a small plane that veered too close to President Bush's motorcade on Thursday was detained by federal agents after F-16 fighters and a police helicopter forced him to land, officials said. The pilot, who was patrolling oil pipelines in a single-engine Cessna at altitudes too low to be sighted by radar, entered a 30-mile no-fly zone and flew along Bush's motorcade route as the president was traveling from a speaking event in Philadelphia, officials said.

The pilot was identified only as an employee of Underwood Aerial Patrol of Ohio.

"He was unaware that there was a temporary flight restriction in effect. There was no threat. There was no malice," said James Borasi, special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service's Philadelphia field office.

The incident, which occurred shortly after noon EDT, triggered a scramble of F-16 fighters, which forced the pilot down at Camden County Airport in Berlin, New Jersey, with help from a police helicopter, airport officials said.

About 30 police officers, with their guns drawn, waited as the Cessna taxied to a stop and then ordered the pilot to lie down on the tarmac.

"They handcuffed him and whisked him out of here," said Karl Kleinberg, the airport's owner.

Four hours after the incident, the pilot was still being detained as a suburban New Jersey police station.

[pabianice]

All little airplanes must be grounded. For the children.

[tbpiper]

Are you sure it's 30 miles?

I believe presidential TFR's are 30 nm. Nuc plants aren't even going feel most general aviation airplanes. Some kid here hit a building down town with a Cessna 172. Broke a window, messed up an office and that was just about it. The threat is pretty small.

[FairOpinion]

How do you get from establishing and enforcing no flight zones around the president, and other terrorist targets like landmarks and nuclear plants, to "grounding all small airplanes"?

[Patriot2000]

In todays world there really is no excuse for this. It is every pilots responsibility to know where and when the TFR's are. A quick look at the FAA's web site will tell you where not to fly. The "No Fly Zone" around the Pres. is 30 NM. I think it is a bit much, but that's what it is. Any pilot can fly within the zone if they file a flight plan. They are then issued a transponder code so they can be identified.

[meyer]

And what if he has a few barrels of VX in the back and slammed it into the president's car? They couldn't have stopped it. Well, lets see, he entered a 30 mile no-fly zone. He was detected there by somebody. I think that there's plenty of time to stop someone with bad intent. Of course, the article is lacking a little bit of detail including whether there was any radio contact with the pilot and what trajectory the plane took in relation to the motorcade. I really think that the danger wasn't as high as the story might make us think.

[CyberAnt]

"He was unaware that there was a temporary flight restriction in effect"

Sooooo .. who dropped the ball. Either the guy didn't read the memo .. or there wasn't one. Shame, shame!!

[supercat]

In my opinion the issue is, that clearly security around the president is inadequate, and they better fix that, the next airplane flying over the motorcade may have more sinister intent, than this guy did.

How close is "close"? This guy may have been flying a thousand yards from the President's route, but the article doesn't say how close he got to the President except that he was within 30 miles. If he was stopped 25 miles out, or even 20, that would suggest that the security works.

[JRandomFreeper]

around the Pres. is 30 NM. I think it is a bit much,

It's less than 4 minutes at 450 kts.

/john

[AnAmericanMother]

If you've got a C-172 that'll do 450kt, I WANT ONE! :-D

(Lord, when I think of the times I was flying along I-20 to Augusta or Birmingham (IFR = I Follow Roads) and the traffic was passing me - tractor trailers - uphill - love those little Cessna 150s.)

[JRandomFreeper]

The exclusion zone doesn't apply only to C-172, 152s, and 150s (just how old are you? ;>) don't answer, I've spent a lot of hours in a 150 myself)

There are lots of 737s, 707s, MD-80s and other larger, faster aircraft out there in private hands. In the right configuration, most of those can reach those (terminal) speeds without flapping themselves to death.

/john

[AnAmericanMother]

I know, I was just kidding, the way you wrote it that's what it sounded like . . .

I soloed on my 16th birthday in a 1964 Cessna 150 - N6250T. Most of my time is in 150s and 172s, with a few oddball hours in a Grumman Yankee (now THAT's a scary ride), a J-3, and a Citabria. I still hitch rides with friends, but I haven't flown as PIC in years - grad school and work and children has sorta kept me away from the patch. My dad hung up his helmet and goggles 2 years ago when he turned 78 - felt like he wasn't as sharp as he used to be, so as he says "I quit it before it quit me."

[Publius6961]

Well, I can sure guess that he will find some way to check on TFRs in the future!

[Bob J]

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[_Jim]

Awfully easy to aerosal whatever stuff you want from high altitude.

Oh boy - we have ourselves a contrail believer ...

[Monty22]

No..

You think it's a joke though, the possibility of chem/bio attack delivered by plane?

[_Jim]

I don't think that you know a lot about upper air winds and the COMPLETELY different directions and speeds they take in contrast to winds experienced at the surface.

In summary, I think you've been suckered into the 'chemtrail fallacy' and don't realize the dynamics nor scope of the problem of dispersing some 'aerosolized' compound from a small plane with any success of achieving a specific goal ...

[Steel and Fire and Stone]

Poor guy, just trying to look for gas leaks!

Lucky for him, this President knows something about what he was doing, and may press the OSS to cut him some slack. If this was the previous President, heck, this guy would rot in jail!

FReegards, SFS

[Steel and Fire and Stone]

and if they don't respond and continue into the zone, despite the warning, then I don't see how they can do anything else

Doubt that it would ever come to that. A couple after burners glowing in his 12 o'clock position would probably pull his attention away from his work.

Hmmmm... would probably spill his coffee.

SFS

[Monty22]

No, not from 30,000 feet. Maybe just at 5000 though? From a Cesna? Why not?

I do NOT buy the contrail lunacy. Just talking about real potential threats.

[_Jim]

Maybe just at 5000 though?

YOU stated high altitude in your post above. Are you now amending that in order to support something a little more plausible?

I still think you're more than a little mis/un-informed and out of your league in realisticlly assessing the necessary components and the tactics you would have to employ to even have a chance at accomplishing some specific goal with a small aircraft ... more detailed than this I shall not get ...