http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/09/03/fb ... niversary/


The FBI and Homeland Security have issued a nationwide warning about Al Qaeda threats to small airplanes, just days before the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Authorities say there is no specific or credible terrorist threat for the 10-year anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. But they have stepped up security across America as a precaution.

According to a five-page law enforcement bulletin issued Friday, as recently as early this year, Al Qaeda was considering ways to attack airplanes.

The alert, issued ahead of the summer's last busy travel weekend, said terrorists have considered renting private planes and loading them with explosives.

"Al Qaeda and its affiliates have maintained an interest in obtaining aviation training, particularly on small aircraft, and in recruiting Western individuals for training in Europe or the United States, although we do not have current, credible information or intelligence of an imminent attack being planned," according to the bulletin obtained by The Associated Press.

The bulletin also says Al Qaeda would like to use sympathetic Westerners to get flight training, then get them to become flight instructors.

Matthew Chandler, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, described the bulletin as routine.

"We shared this information with our partners to highlight the need for continued awareness and vigilance," he said.

Aviation security is much tighter than it was a decade ago, but Al Qaeda remains keenly interested in launching attacks on airplanes, believing large attacks with high body counts are more likely to grab headlines.

Threats to small airplanes are nothing new. After the 2001 attacks, the government grounded thousands of crop dusters amid fears the planes could be used in an attack.

In 2002, U.S. officials said they uncovered an Al Qaeda plot to fly a small plane into a U.S. warship in the Gulf. And in 2003, U.S. officials uncovered an Al Qaeda plot to crash an explosives-laden small aircraft into the American consulate in Karachi, Pakistan.



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/09/03/fb ... z1WwlL4y3Y

Is hijacking of GA aircraft a danger? Seems it would be pretty easy to walk up to an aircraft getting fuel, put a gun to the pilots head, and tell him where to fly it to. Of course if that happened to the typical BCPer, it would turn into an armed standoff and someone would have a hole in their head before it was over.

D

There's some big iron out there for charter. A Caravan, Kodiak, Beavers will all carry a ton or better. Personally, I don't see a suicide jockey with minimal flight experience ever getting a loaded cropduster off the ground but some of the air taxi equipment is vulnerable. We had a little scare at my home base because of a guy pretending to be a big wheel wanting to build a 10,000 ft hanger to house his Leer, T-206, King Air and a Jet Ranger. Turned out to just be a dirt poor pathological liar from Idaho Falls but he conned his way into our airport inner circle, airplane rides, a roll of expensive engineered blueprints of the airport, even went to an airport board meeting where he laid out a pretty profound way of re-arranging some things so his big hanger would fit.

Just wondering ... why would crop dusters be singled out for grounding?


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=29.755275,-90.555075

Ridge Runner wrote:Just wondering ... why would crop dusters be singled out for grounding?


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=29.755275,-90.555075

Loading them with bio-weapons & spraying over large city's. Was around the time of the anthrax scare I think.

L-19 wrote:

Ridge Runner wrote:Just wondering ... why would crop dusters be singled out for grounding?


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=29.755275,-90.555075

Loading them with bio-weapons & spraying over large city's. Was around the time of the anthrax scare I think.

Understandable. If they stood around and watched 250 hour owl-eyed pilots driving airtractors through the rutabagas on both sides of the runway with 1/2 loads of water on board they'd worry less about someone stealing one just because the keys were in it. It seems that they need about 20 hours of flying water/ surviving before they get sent out to actually apply something for hire.

Speaking of Terrorists and small planes, how would you like to be the new guy who replaced me? My company dropped the big oil company I flew for, basically because of new crazy demands from the oil company’s new safety man.

I tried to contact the new patrol company that is replacing my old company, but they do not return calls. I was going to give them all the contact numbers I had to call before over flying the nuke plant.

It will be interesting to see how the new guys replacing me get handled as they fly their very first patrol over the Nuke plant in a different airplane, on the very week of the 10th anniversary of 911, and without calling anyone first? Ad to that, Friday's new terrorist alert about small planes. Oh boy!

History: After 911, they would send up F16's when I approached a nuke plant just outside of a class B airspace, and once almost shot me out of the sky with new ground to air missiles mounted on a humvee that Homeland Security just gave them, but I got radio call telling me that I was "locked on" and that I had 5 seconds to make an immediate right turn. Luckily I was talking to approach control (optional) then to get that call. I always got the feeling that they were trigger happy down there?

From then on I had this list of law enforcement agencies to call prior to flying and had to give a 15 minute time slot of when I'd get there. But after 6-7 months of that, I only had to call the nuke plant one hour prior to flying over and had be in contact with the class B approach control on a certain freq, and they already had everything there was to know about me. Still I had to give my name, the N number, plane color, and direction of flight to both places every flight.

This“big oil” company knows nothing about any of this, but their new safety czar that created this change of patrol companies is sending the new guy into this blind... We'll see just how safe he looks if his new pilot is shot out of the sky??

Here is how I see it:

Big Oil company, they run the place like the government does the
country. They got a new "safety czar" in the aviation department. They probably
got one in each department of the company too.

1. First they wanted to inspect our hangars (I wouldn't let them in mine).
You couldn't have anything other then an airplane, no cases of oil,
tools, etc. So if a guy lands after a long day needing 3-4 qts of oil? He'd
have to take off the next day and risk an engine failure going to the
service shop (much safer then maybe tripping over that case of oil don't you
think?).

2. Then they wanted ground proximity devices in each plane ($16,000 each).
So along with all the other distractions, you'd have flashing lights, a buzzer, and a computer voice yelling "pull up, pull up" all day long since the job does
require you to fly low!! My GPS (much cheaper) already had that and I
disabled that “pull up” sound the first day.

3 Final straw was: they were now going to require an observer to ride
along on all flights. That's another distraction, as you will be
chatting with each other, and miss things. It can't be your girl friend either,
it has to be another commercial rated pilot along with all the gas & oil
required training and security clearances that we have.

Where are the number-crunchers who worry about costs??

Here is what's funny, .... this new patrol company flies Citabrias, so the
observer either sits in the back, where he can't see anything, or if he
sits up front where he can see, but then the pilot couldn't see where he
is going, because he'd be in the back!

The way I see it, their liability doubled since they will have two
families suing if they have a crash, instead of one. In my opinion the
chances of a crash are higher because of the other person's added
distractions to the pilot.

Safety is such a good thing!

Hey Patrol Guy,

Sorry to learn about your situation. That's a crap deal. But why not call up all your contacts and appraise THEM of the change, just to help out a fellow aviator.

And best of luck with things,

-DP

It is maddening. I think I got in on the last of the Chris Matthews show the other morning and the gang was talking about how Bin Laden had won. IMHO Dick Cheney and his gang have won using Bin Laden as the scape goat. I still remember when the Towers came down and my first thought was demolition and I still think that.

I know this won't make me alot of friends here, but it needs to be said. This is all about curtailing our rights, including the right to fly, and has nothing to do with protecting us from so called terrorists. Since 9/11 there have been no credible threats on US soil. Every supposed terrorist plot busted had FBI instigators behind it. Me, I'm a lot more afraid of the government that arab terrorists. I think of the kinds of folks on a board like this as freefom loving individualistic types. Those who think "it's for our own good" better wake up and smell the coffee.

Best,
O-2

Hey Patrol Guy, That sucks about your job but you might want to notify the FAA of the situation. At least you put it on their shoulders if something happens. The guy that got your job doesn't need a missile up the wazoo on his first day because the new Safety Guy doesn't know what he's doing. Sounds like he's screwed up enough stuff for right now.

Hey I didn't leave the guy hanging out there; I notified the contacts with basically this same post. What I was saying is that his company doesn't return calls, etc. I am sure when he checks in Tuesday, red flags and calls will be ringing his way. But not because of the people he works, because of me.

After 911, there was almost no sharing of info with all the different agencies. That is why I had to call the county sheriff department, the state troopers, the National Guard, the control tower, and the nuke before I flew over that plant. Today that should not be a factor I hope. Each of them had or thought they had some part in protecting that area.

Ahh for the simple times,

From March of 70 to Sept. of 71 I flew 1,800 hrs. of pipeline patrol: all over Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Tenn. and Missouri in a Citabria. Tree top level, 2,100 miles in a 4 day week. Didn't talk to anyone...... just whizzed along looking for girls in bikinis.....and B-52's/ C-130s/ F-4s at 500 ft. agl on the old "Oil Burner" training routes. I cannot believe the BS that your oil company wants to put you through Patrol Guy.

I am a bit confused about the Nuke plant. I've flow over several since 911 without talking to anyone. Of course I didn't hang around. I thought that as long as one didn't linger about....it was a non issue. Now right after 9/11/01.....it was a different story. Is there a minimum altitude? Maybe my Maule is stealth and I didn't know it.

Bob

OscarDeuce wrote:I know this won't make me alot of friends here, but it needs to be said. This is all about curtailing our rights, including the right to fly, and has nothing to do with protecting us from so called terrorists. Since 9/11 there have been no credible threats on US soil. Every supposed terrorist plot busted had FBI instigators behind it. Me, I'm a lot more afraid of the government that arab terrorists. I think of the kinds of folks on a board like this as freefom loving individualistic types. Those who think "it's for our own good" better wake up and smell the coffee.

Best,
O-2

I have read a lot about this, and I couldn't agree more. Look at the details of the christmas tree bomber in Portland last year. Total BS.