Ken Hamblin editorial response to CBS article - Denver Post 11/18

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,...893864,00.html

no registration needed - Ken is also a pilot and i believe owns a twin engine.
does anyone know if Ken is nationally syndicated or is it just Denver?

james...

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One would think the national television news shows would have enough to report
concerning national security, the approaching Iowa Democratic caucuses and
former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill's gaffe concerning his former boss,
President Bush.

But, apparently not satisfied with trying to scare the public into believing
that nothing short of a naked passenger seated next to you when you fly
commercially will ensure your personal security, last week CBS turned its
attention back to an old whipping boy: general aviation.

According to the introduction to a CBS "Eye On America" report: "Since 9/11,
security has become a top concern at major U.S. airports, but there is still a
huge gap in the air security net because for every commercial jet in the U.S.
fleet, there are 30 private planes, a total of some 200,000 so-called general
aviation aircraft. And as Bob Orr reports for 'Eye On America,' many of their
airports have no security at all."

Any thought that CBS was about to give a fair and accurate report about general
aviation was quickly put to rest when it referred to the 200,000 airplanes
currently registered to fly in U.S. airspace as "so-called" general aviation.

CBS News sent a television crew to the Eagle's Nest airport in western Virginia
to expose a fly-in community where pilots land and taxi their aircraft to their
private hangars adjacent to their homes. CBS referred to airport communities
like Eagle's Nest as a "soaring real estate trend."

The reporter expressed shock to learn that there was no security there and that
pilots were free to come and go as they pleased. In a stern voice, Orr
announced that Eagle's Nest and most of the other 19,000 general aviation
airports in the U.S. were "an open invitation to terrorists." There are no
fences, no gates, no security systems and no federal requirements to have them.

The airport manager helped CBS pour fuel on the fire by admitting that, no, the
federal government hadn't instructed him to screen the passengers or check the
baggage of the people who come and go.

However, he did assure CBS that he tries to keep an eye on the planes and
checks out strangers. Orr quickly noted, "But that's not security."

I wasn't the only person irritated by the "Eye On America" report. The Aircraft
Owners and Pilots Association labeled the CBS story one-sided in a statement on
its website.

AOPA notes that its Airport Watch program is in place at thousands of general
aviation airports across the country. That was one of many actions taken to
ensure security at small airports after Sept.

As Boyer pointed out, CBS didn't show an average general aviation field like
Centennial Airport in Englewood or Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles, where
security patrols are as common as fuel trucks and where access to the ramp
where planes are parked is controlled by locked doors monitored by airport
personnel.

Short of supporting a total ban on general aviation, I'm not sure how many more
restrictions CBS would like the government to impose on non-commercial flying
in the United States.

As AOPA noted, pilots are already well- regulated by the federal government.
Every name on the pilot list has been checked by Transportation Security
Administration and other agencies, and the government can revoke a pilot's
certificate if he is deemed a security threat.

If CBS would have taken the time to scope out the real facts about general
aviation, it could have provided an important service to its viewers. Instead,
the network chose to gallop down the shock-news path, ignoring the truth about
a multibillion-dollar industry that is crucial to the economics of business,
commerce and recreation in our nation.