two pilots bust the TFR

Here's a report from a local paper. Note that the guy trying to fly to
Skyhaven was FORCED to land at Skyhaven, then allowed to depart when
the work was done. It's as if the TFR never happened! (Well, apart
from his conversation with the FAA.)

The second guy, at Sanford, is more interesting. If you read the AOPA
"plain language" version of the TFR, it does indeed seem to say that
the effective dates of the TFR are June 28 and July 2, and not the
days between.

quoting now (stuff snipped):

ROCHESTER — Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration and the
U.S. Secret Service ordered a small aircraft to land at Skyhaven
Airport and had local police detain the pilot on Friday afternoon....

The incident occurred at 12:40 p.m. Capt. Paul Callaghan said the
pilot, who's from Laconia, was flying from Laconia to Skyhaven to get
his plane inspected. However, the pilot reportedly forgot about flight
restrictions in the area and was ordered by the Secret Service to land
at Skyhaven Airport because he was flying too close to the no-fly area
in the Kennebunkport, Maine area.

Temporary flight restrictions have been put in place for the area
because of this weekend's summit in Maine between President George W.
Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The restrictions became
effective on Thursday and go until Monday.

During the restrictions, Skyhaven Airport and other local airports
such as those in Portsmouth, Hampton, Concord, Manchester and Sanford,
Maine, are limited in their flying operations.

"He was flying into Skyhaven and didn't remember that Bush and Putin
were in Kennebunkport," Callaghan said. "This happens at least once a
year, pilots forget it's restricted airspace. Last year we had two
cases where planes were flying over and the FAA asked them to land."

A U.S. military helicopter flew over the airport as the plane made its
landing but never touched down. Police detained the pilot and
officials from the FAA spoke to him.

The pilot doesn't face any criminal charges and was granted permission
to fly back to Laconia after he had some work done to his plane.

A similar incident happened on Friday morning in Sanford, Maine. At
around 9 a.m. the FAA in Boston called the Sanford Police Department
and ordered the department to "stop" a single-engine plane that had
flown within restricted airspace.

Sanford Regional Airport officials were able to communicate with the
pilot, whose plane was tuned into Sanford's frequency. Military
aircraft — a Black Hawk helicopter among them — approached the plane
as it descended to Sanford's airport.

Sanford Police Major Gordon Littlefield said the pilot and his
passenger in the plane told authorities that they had the dates of the
restriction confused, believing them only to be in effect on June 28
and July 1. They were out flying to enjoy the clear skies and cool
weather, both of which have eluded the area during this humid, hazy
week, according to Littlefield.

Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Claire Chennault and His American Volunteers, 1941-1942
forthcoming from HarperCollins www.flyingtigersbook.com