AOPA is asking its members to "join the conversation" and let Time magazine's top management know what they think about an inflammatory ad suggesting small general aviation aircraft pose a threat to nuclear power facilities.
The "house ad," which is supposed to promote the Time brand, appeared in the December 23 edition and shows two GA aircraft tied down on a ramp with nuclear power plant cooling towers in the background. The caption reads, "Remember when only environmentalists would have been alarmed by this photo?"
AOPA has already responded with a sharp letter to the editor, "but we think it's important that Time's management understand that their pilot readers expect fair, reasonable, and unbiased coverage, whether it's in news reporting or in the magazine's own advertisements," said AOPA President Phil Boyer.
AOPA suggests that you write to Time magazine President Eileen Naughton and Publisher Edward R. McCarrick and point out that this ad needlessly raises public fears without contributing to rational discourse.
Point out that numerous studies, including one commissioned by AOPA, demonstrate that general aviation aircraft have neither the mass, energy, nor load-carrying capability to breach the hardened containment buildings surrounding all power reactors in the United States.
Also note that the general aviation industry has worked proactively with the federal government to improve aviation security since the September 11 attacks. AOPA's Airport Watch and AOPA's pilot photo ID petition are but just two examples of that cooperation.
"Let Time know that we welcome a 'conversation' on aviation security," Boyer said. "We just ask that it be based on facts, not fear mongering."
Letters to Time's management should be sent to:
Time
Time Life Bldg., Rockefeller Center
New York, NY 10020-1393
02-4-150x
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