New Realities For Pilots

The letter in the mailbox summed up the new realities in a couple of terse paragraphs. Bearing the logo of an obscure state transportation agency, the letter warned, in words seemingly prepared in great haste, of new security threats to the general aviation fleet. It urged pilots to do all they could to secure their aircraft against an "identified" but undefined threat. It reminded us how different things had become just a few weeks after an unimaginably horrible act of violence conveyed us into a fearful new state of mind.

The transforming event was already more than a month in the past, but it remained a presence everywhere. One of the pilots bold enough to test the system in the first days after the initial grounding of all civilian flight operations captured the spirit in a short message he relayed about his flight. He wrote, "Everyone was very nice but serious. No witty banter on the frequencies. On my way down, [Approach] asked me to look for an airplane flying low VFR and not talking to them. I did the best I could but couldn't read a tail number from 2,000 feet above. Know anyone who flies a Cub with a red fuselage and white wings? Whoever he or she is, they are going to get their license pulled. Everyone means business these days. You fly VFR now, you risk serious consequences. Ignorance of the notams is no excuse.''

Most VFR flight privileges have been restored, after all civil aircraft were grounded immediately after the terrorist attacks of September 11. General aviation flights under instrument flight rules were allowed to resume, with restrictions, three days later. The first VFR flights were authorized late on September 19, and most VFR flight training resumed two days later. At press time restricted VFR operations had just been allowed in most enhanced Class B areas, but VFR flight remained prohibited in the remaining enhanced Class B airspace and several temporary flight restriction (TFR) areas. AOPA is continuing its aggressive efforts to restore additional VFR privileges, and posts frequent updates on its Web site ( www.aopa.org ). Pilots are advised to obtain a preflight briefing, including notams and TFR status, before every flight.

Immediately after the attack, walk-in visits to my friendly local flight service station were banned for a time. At a small regional airport consisting of a passenger terminal, a fixed-base operator, and a handful of private hangars, three National Guardsmen with rifles stood sentry in the airline terminal parking lot. The FBO, for whom I once happily flew sightseeing flights and short-hop charters, reported glumly that his newly paved parking lot was now 50 percent useless because one end of it was too close to the airline facility to meet new security standards. This was in addition to the blow his mom-and-pop business had been dealt by a week of enforced grounding during the brief time of year when our local tourism-related businesses earn their money in anticipation of a long winter.

Not that anyone was complaining - these sacrifices are tiny compared to those made by the heroes in New York City; Washington D.C.; and a Pennsylvania farm field. So if not every official edict fit all possible circumstances, most of the pilots I know would be willing to endure until such time as change might seem possible. And if not every declaration made by those whose passions, public position, or journalistic curriculum vitae moved them to public discourse was thoughtful, well, that's a problem in good times too. Sifting through the dangers perceived to be out there after the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in an effort to separate truth from fiction has not been easy.

For aviators, the fact that airplanes and aviation were part of the story has been an uncomfortable reality, dragging many of the public phobias about flight out into the open.

For us, for whom aviation is day-to-day fare, this changes things in a variety of ways. In the aftermath, we have to do more than inform ourselves about the new flight requirements and restrictions we face. We also must confront the need to address perceptions of who we are and what we do. And in doing this, we need to recognize that any pilot aggravating the public's sense of vulnerability - even in small ways - could lend energy to the efforts of those who would feed fear at our expense. I spent more than a decade working in newsrooms, and believe me, it doesn't take much.

Examples of journalists spinning out of control are already plentiful. Cloaking ignorance in the erudition and respectability of a position with a major news organization, at least one commentator has sought to equate the large number of nontowered general aviation airports across the land with the disaster wrought upon us by murderous hijackers of four airliners on September 11. I will set aside the typical inaccuracies he committed when describing general aviation to his readers and the references to private airplanes "clogging" airspace which he views strictly as a governmental domain. His solution to the straw-man problem he posed to his readers: fences and control towers at hundreds of lightly used airports - neither of which would be terribly responsive to the problems we face in the world after September 11. Nor does it convey any understanding of what control towers are actually there for. Sign the man up for ground school and make the editorial pages safer for the flying public.

Yet even in times not burdened by tragedy, this is often the quality of the public discourse on aviation, drowning out serious voices with thoughtful ideas to offer. It would be a shame, and possibly a lasting legacy, if by their actions or carelessness pilots were to breathe life into efforts to stampede a frightened public.

Aviation is going to be a very businesslike activity for a long time to come. If you know someone who is not necessarily up to meeting this standard on a regular basis, take him aside. Yes, I know that's something you probably wouldn't have done in the past, but do it now. If he gets huffy, tell him he's lucky it's you and not the local anchorman and his "video journalist" sidekick from your local TV new team who is waiting for him in the parking lot - or an FAA inspector, or a policeman. Remind the pilot that aviation has always held a peculiar fascination for the layman. While this is wondrous to behold in happier times, such as when the Blue Angels come to town on a bright summer day, it is downright peculiar when an incident so minor as an airplane taxiing into a pothole at a private grass strip becomes the lead story on the evening news. Ask him to consider how such occurrences will be treated now.

Remind him that many things that might have gone unremarked in the pre-September 11 order, as we will come to know it, will not seem so obscure today. Low flight that isn't really low, but might provoke a complaint, is an example. I like to cruise at 1,500 feet above the landscape on short hops, but it isn't beneath my dignity to add 500 feet to that figure for the time being. That extra turn above the house during that weekend hamburger flight just isn't necessary these days. Radar flight following is often a good idea, and now it is an even better one, especially if you are heading toward sensitive areas. Even the much-misunderstood option of filing a VFR flight plan could come in handy nowadays as a way of documenting your flight's intentions. At press time notams still caution pilots against flying in the vicinity of power plants, dams, refineries, industrial complexes, and similar facilities. Recently in Florida, authorities investigated several reports of small aircraft circling nuclear power plants. In addition, all aircraft operations are prohibited within 3 nautical miles and 3,000 feet of sporting events or other major open-air assemblies of people, unless authorized by air traffic control for arrival or departure operations.

If your navigation skills are rusty, better brush them up - there won't be any tolerance for the kind of straying into highly controlled airspace or restricted areas that remains common even in this era of satellite navigation. And keep in mind that recent airspace restrictions will not be depicted on GPS moving-map displays. How common is such straying? Log into NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System report database (http://asrs. arc.nasa.gov/) and see for yourself. Good navigation equipment has caused many pilots to become poor navigators. What better way is there to learn to avoid the pitfalls than by reading the true confessions of others who didn't?

As always, calm facts will put the lie to shrill, overexcited editorial assaults and political initiatives driven by a perceived need to "just do something" about public safety. For instance, I wish the editorialist who attacked the people flying private airplanes out of private (read: unsecured) airports as an ancillary threat to the public safety probably had met my friend Carlton - or any of the thousands of pilots like him - before he had begun to write his post-World Trade Center ode to fear.

You see, Carlton has an airport in his backyard. But in Carlton's case, the backyard was there first. The airport came later, when Carlton decided there was no reason to travel to another airport to do his flying when there was enough room behind his house for one of his own. So he put one there, which took more than a little effort. If he did not get up the next morning and begin erecting a security fence, it is only the negligence of the national news media to blame for leaving this fact unrevealed these past several decades. But as far as anyone knows, there has been no threat to public security as a result of this omission.

If the Ivory Towers of Journalism find the existence of Carlton's airport and his easy access to a Cessna 140 worrisome ideas, they should relax. I can certify that Carlton is an asset, not a liability. Long before Carlton took up the role of backyard aviator, he served in the armed forces during World War II, saw action, and endured part of his tenure as a prisoner of war. His airplane would make a poor projectile, and I suspect Carlton would fight rather vigorously to keep someone from turning it into one. And as noted, there are hundreds of Carltons out there. I like the idea of Carlton flying around up there. He is apple pie on wings. I hope he continues on for a long, long time.