CNN: Man Held in Custody at Frederick, MD Airport, Re: D.C. Plane Scare

Wednesday, May 11, 2005 | Kristinn

[kristinn]

CNN's Kelly Arena reports that one man is being held by Maryland State Police at an airport in Frederick, MD. The police are waiting for federal authorities to arrive on the scene.

The man is said to be the pilot of the small aircraft that triggered an evacuation of government buildings in downtown Washington when he reportedly violated restricted airspace.

Frederick, MD. is located about an hour northwest of Washington, D.C. along the I-270 corridor.

[narby]

I can think of a 100 pound payload that would be explosive enough to do more than mar a pillar. We've been far too lenient with all these jokers in small planes knowingly commit airspace violations.

Oh, please.

If a bad guy wanted to really do damage, stealing a fuel truck would be far worse. Light it on fire on the Golden Gate ....

There are 10000 ways to do serious damage, even in the DC area. Small airplanes are about the worst option.

Remember the guy that died at the White House in a Cessna during Clinton's term? The story was that he hit the ground. I don't think it happened that way. The picture had the airplane within feet of the White House wall. I think he actually HIT the White House and bounced off, but that part wasn't told.

Anyone who's taken a White House tour (and I guarantee the bad guys have) was told that during WWII, FDR had the whole White House rebuilt from the inside out. They deliberately did not put scaffolding on the outside because of security, but the inside was rebuilt basically to bomb shelter standards. Lots of reinforced concrete and rebar.

Any GA airplane, except some of the jets, would bounce off it. Even using the few hundred pounds of explosives that it would carry, it would have to be fused to detonate in a very exact way to do real damage.

And then there's the "bunker" down below....

[bootless]

I agree ...for one thing, the plane has pretty short legs, fuel-wise. More fuel stops = more exposure to watchful airport people. :-)

[Dead Dog]

I still think a 69 Olds 88, with a bomb (not a bombshell) in the backseat, would be more of a threat. Those get airborn also.

[CyberAnt]

Well .. everytime one of these "idiots" does this - the first thing I think of is a test run - to see what our response will be.

While I agree .. there are a lot of other "idiots" out there who just don't pay attention .. I think they need to start giving these people a huge fine or something to get their attention.

[hummingbird]

Okay, both groups believe that to get to Intercourse, you have to first get to Paradise.

"But, hey, you guys have been a great crowd; don't forget to tip your waitperson before you leave. They need drinking money, too!"

[FireTrack]

"They need to shoot the next one down and then and then GA pilots may be a little more careful around DC."

Wow, I sure hope none of the flaming wreckage lands on some gay DC person riding his bicycle...

[purpleland]

'...evacuation of government buildings in downtown Washington when he reportedly violated restricted airspace."

How I pity the bureaucrats and politik aristocracy scramblng for cover. I expect the wayward pilot and/or the Democrats will blame the pilot's faulty navigation on President Bush and the Patriot Act. (Only the last line is sarcasim.)

[hummingbird]

Those Amish can get pretty wacky.

"Amish Gone Wild."

[jsbankston]

Yes, what gets shot down will always fall to the ground in a very uncontrolled manner on top of houses, schools etc. However, the larger question is would be how is it that a 150 can fly within three miles of the White House before any real action is taken?

What if this guy was flying a Gulf Stream at 400+MPH. The Authorities would have had no time to react and the White House or Capitol would have been destroyed.

The System Failed!

[commonasdirt]

I am a middle of the road kind of guy with regards to politics. But I do share more conservative viewpoints than lib. I come here for a view and then look at DU to see what is being said on the same subject. On this latest incident as well as with the grenade incident in Georgia the other day DU posters are truly showing their form. Both are getting comments regarding them as ploys to distract and even a Rove engineered plan to pump up the President. It is clear to me that if I want to find sensible analysis of anything from a lib leaning view I really have to find an alternative to DU because the posters on that site are WAY out there with blind hate certainly eliminating any logic at all.

[bootless]

Absolutely. You're right - no TFRs for an Olds 88!

[hummingbird]

Well, the terrorists could try to run us all down with '88 Olds.

Oh, you've met my Dad!

He's not a terrorist but you still have to be aware of your surroundings, as they say.....

[Dead Dog]

There might be one for Chappaquiddick. Always check NOTAMs!

[HairOfTheDog]

You can 'what if' anything into a failure of the system. And you know, I bet many who are actually shouldered with that responsibility think through those same questions.

The system did not fail here.

Using the actual facts, they evaluated the situation and made the exact right decisions, in real time. You are assuming that you can change the basic nature of what they were looking at and they wouldn't have acted appropriately for that too.

We got 'im. We may not get them all, but we got this one.

[devolve]

A Flight Instructor has no excuse for getting into that corridor.

From PA to NC anyone could fly out of that area with no problem.

That Cessna should never have been allowed to get with 2½ miles of the WH. That is mere seconds from the WH.

It gave a free trial run for terrorists and great PR for our enemies whether it was an error or not.

That Cessna is registered to a "Vintage Aircraft Club" but it is the only aircraft that they have.

Regs and consequences need to be tightened up.

Secret Service say three (3) aircraft violate DC/WH airspace restrictions every day.

They walk without the consequences of a DUI.

Time to levy monster fines, loss of licenses, jail time, and confiscations aircraft of offenders - rented/leased or owned.

There are civil penalties - but oddly no criminal statutes against flying into restricted airspace.

Flying is not like going bowling.

A quick cure would be requiring liability insurance that would pay for sending up F16s and all the DC and Capitol police.

The insurance premiums would prove an instant deterrent.

[Feiny]

some even wobbled....

[jsbankston]

As I understand the DC GA Perimeter is 15 miles thus a private jet going 425 MPH would take less than 2 minutes from the moment it penetrated the perimeter to the time it reached or hit the White House.

[pa mom]

First disease that popped into my head after shingles.

[HairOfTheDog]

Secret Service say three (3) aircraft violate DC/WH airspace restrictions every day.

Can you name one of them that did any damage?

It gave a free trial run for terrorists and great PR for our enemies whether it was an error or not.

It was also excellent training and great PR for our defenses that did a fabulous job.

But noooo... the mere appearance of a potential threat makes everyone scream for locking down the skies and anything else that might scare us.

Be level headed about this. We can find threat in many many directions. We can lock down the skies, make all of our cars without cargo compartments, and make us all run around naked so we know there's nothing in anyone's pockets. Who won then?

[pa mom]

So true!