On Tue, 24 May 2005 07:33:20 -0400, "John T" wrote in
: :

"Larry Dighera" wrote in message

You've failed to consider government personnel positioned on the
ground.

No, I haven't. Let me clarify, though. Nobody had "authorization" even if
they had the authority.

According to this report, the order to shoot down the hapless little
Cessna 150 was only 15 to 20 seconds away from occurring, because the
policy relies on unreliable radio communications:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7972808/
washingtonpost.com Highlights
Military was set to down Cessna
Authority granted as plane strayed deep into capital
Updated: 5:19 a.m. ET May 25, 2005

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld gave military
officials the authority to shoot down, if necessary, a small plane
that wandered into restricted airspace over the nation's capital
May 11, according to two senior federal officials.

For 11 intense minutes, customs aircraft and military fighter jets
tried to intercept the Cessna 150 and determine whether the pilots
were confused and lost or were targeting Washington. Military
officials never deemed the aircraft to be hostile, but White House
and U.S. Capitol officials grew more concerned as it flew within
three miles of the executive mansion.

The plane, one of the federal officials said, came within "15 to
20 seconds" of being downed before its pilots finally heeded
repeated orders to turn away from the city.

The new details, also corroborated yesterday by a senior federal
law enforcement official briefed on events, came as U.S. military
and homeland security officials review the effectiveness of an air
defense system established for the Washington area after the 2001
terrorist attacks. The officials spoke on the condition of
anonymity because much of the air defense system is classified.

As authorities piece together the lessons of the scare --
described by some officials as the closest the government has come
to downing a civilian plane over Washington since Sept. 11, 2001
-- they are confronting sensitive issues involving split-second
decisions, communications and the federal chain of command.

Against a light aircraft moving at a relatively slow 100 mph, with
two evidently confused pilots, authorities were able to order the
evacuation of the White House and Capitol complex only two to
three minutes before the plane would have reached either. Outside
analysts said it remains unknown what might happen against a
larger, faster aircraft intending to evade defenders.

"The question is, if it were a faster plane . . . whether or not
the system would have been as responsive," said Rep. Bennie
Thompson (Miss.), senior Democrat on the Homeland Security
Committee.

Based on a Homeland Security Department chronology, it is unclear
whether jet fighters would have been in position to take action
against the Cessna before it reached the White House or Capitol.
The Cessna penetrated a 16-mile-radius no-fly zone at 11:50 a.m.;
F-16 fighters were scrambled from nearby Andrews Air Force Base
two minutes later.

The White House and Capitol were evacuated just after noon, as the
plane continued to approach. The fighters fired warning flares at
the Cessna at 12:04 p.m., and it was diverted.

Pentagon and Homeland Security officials have said the air defense
system worked effectively during the crisis. But in a statement
released Friday, the pilots said they had trouble communicating on
the radio frequency that a customs helicopter crew signaled for
them to use.

Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration and Customs and
Border Protection confirmed the communications problems cited by
the Cessna pilots, Hayden "Jim" Sheaffer, 69, and Troy Martin, 36,
both of Pennsylvania. The frequency was unavailable in that patch
of airspace, the officials said.
CONTINUED: Emergency locator beacon ...


Absent the F-16s, nothing (but possible ground based weapons) would
have almost killed them.

Semantics, perhaps, but negligently straying where bullets are threatened to
be loosed is the fault of the pilot. Doggedly continuing on a flight path
directly over downtown DC with military/interceptor aircraft in formation or
circling is the fault of the pilot.

There is little doubt that the Sheaffer made many mistakes, but that's
no excuse for our government's implementation of a flawed security
policy.

All The Powers That Be have made great efforts to inform pilots of the rules
of this airspace. Beyond dismantling it (which I want), I don't know what
else they can do to educate pilots. The Visual Warning System is a step in
the right direction, but even after they publish it in the AIM as they've
indicated, the pilots have to read/hear about it to know what to do.

Because the ADIZ does nothing to protect the White House except create
the public perception that something is being done at the expense of
unnecessarily placing pilots in mortal danger, a responsible
government would dismantle it.