Beginning this weekend, the FAA and government security agencies will implement changes originally suggested by AOPA to the Baltimore-Washington Air Defense Identification Zone. To help pilots understand the changes and the rest of the regulations, AOPA has created an online guide to operations in the ADIZ.
"AOPA has worked nonstop since the ADIZ was imposed earlier this year to minimize its operational impact and to get it lifted as soon as possible," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "The changes at the fringe airports are an important step in the right direction."
At a dozen airports near the edges of the ADIZ, pilots will now be able to depart the ADIZ without first filing an ADIZ flight plan. However, they will still need to follow established ADIZ procedures to arrive at those airports.
And at two other very busy GA airports, Bay Bridge (W29) and Kentmorr (3W3), the FAA has established arrival and departure procedures so that pilots flying into or out of those two will not need to file ADIZ flight plans.
The new AOPA online ADIZ guide walks pilots through the new procedures at the 14 airports, as well as the other requirements for operating in the ADIZ.
AOPA continues working to eliminate the rest of the ADIZ restrictions, meeting frequently with the FAA, Transportation Security Administration, Department of Homeland Security, White House, and Congress. In fact, AOPA believes its case was strengthened recently when Adm. James Loy, head of TSA, told a congressional panel that in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the threat posed by general aviation was overstated by some in government.
"It's important for pilots to understand that the new procedures are only a test that runs 60 days beginning November 1," said Boyer. "Pilots have it in their power to make the test procedures permanent or scuttle them altogether. Every successful, uneventful GA flight in the ADIZ bolsters our cause. And every infraction sets us back. So please, take advantage of the new rules, but don't abuse them."
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