9/11 COMMISSION: ADIZs EVERYWHERE?
From the AOPA:
“Perhaps. In the 9/11 Commission’s first “report card,” it gives the
government a “B-” for homeland airspace defense. The commission notes
that there is “no overarching plan to secure airspace outside the National
Capital region.” “That’s most ominous,” said Andy Cebula, AOPA senior
vice president of government and technical affairs, “because what ‘secures’
the National Capital region is the Washington, D.C., Air Defense
Identification Zone (ADIZ)! I’m not sure which is more distressing–that
the commission thinks the Washington, D.C., ADIZ works, or that they think
the model should be applied elsewhere.” This makes it all the more critical
that pilots tell the government that they don’t want the Washington, D.C.,
ADIZ to continue and that they definitely don’t want an ADIZ in their
airspace. In its original report, the 9/11 Commission said that NORAD–
the North American Aerospace Defense Command–focused only on threats
from outside the United States, even though terrorists might “use planes
as missiles.” The report card, issued Monday, adds that “no single agency
currently leads the interagency response to airspace violations.” “What
we have seen before with these kinds of reports is a knee-jerk reaction
to do something–anything–to prove that you’re doing something,” said
Cebula. “And the easiest thing for them to do would be to create more
ADIZs.” But ADIZs would be the wrong thing to do, according to AOPA.
The ill-conceived, poorly executed approach unfairly penalizes general
aviation, damages small businesses, increases transportation inefficiencies,
and adds additional non-safety-related burdens upon already over-tasked
air traffic controllers.”
See AOPA’s Member Action Center: Operation ADIZ