Did Common Sense Prevail?

[Kendoway]

How a Heartwarming, Kick-A** Father's Day Photo Shoot Ended Up Face Down in Handcuffs on the Addison Airport Tarmac:

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2009/06/how_a_heartwarming_kick-ass_fa.php

The sensible part of me thinks: "Well, if the guy wandered off the approved area he could have been chopped up by a plane taking off or landing. So maybe they did the best thing to protect him".

But then there's a part of the article that irks me: "But according to one of the crew, they had ID'd me as one of theirs, and the tower knew and tried to call it off. But once the wheels were set in motion, it could not be stopped."

Overreaction or not?

What do you think?

[FlyingPhotog]

Hard to know for sure...

Airports are freaky places now days. There is a giant p*ssing contest ongoing between the GA community and DHS. DHS wants all airports to be treated the same security wise from JFK to Ma & Pa's Country Airstrip and BBQ Joint. Metal Detectors, ID Badges, passenger manifests, etc...

However, the Director of HS recently went on the record stating that the security threat from GA aircraft is at best theoretical and not very substantial so they seem to be backing off a bit. Local LE however is a different story (which is who detained the writer, not DHS/TSA...)

- Was the B-24 "open to the public" that day? (ie was airport management aware?)
- Was the B-24 parked in a very active area at the airport?
- Did the writer wander too far away from the B-24 into an active area?
- How/Why did the tower know what was going on but no body else did?
- Did the writer enter the airport perimeter in a less than optimal fashion and therefore pop up as a suprise?

I went for a ride in a B-17 in April of 2006 at the Tucson International Airport. I threw them a giant curveball by flying in and parking very near where the B-17 / B-24 / B-25 were parked. When I came strolling accross the ramp, all kinds of people were yelling at me and freaking out until I finally had the chance to explain to them that I had just parked and climbed out of "That Cessna 172 over there..."

[Moppie]

I threw them a giant curveball by flying in and parking very near where the B-17 / B-24 / B-25 were parked.



Now that is how you arrive at an airshow :cool::cool:

[FlyingPhotog]

Now that is how you arrive at an airshow :cool::cool:

It was a most memorable day...

Gallery of Images (http://www.pbase.com/flyingphotog/b17_ride)

[unmanedpilot]

The article wasn't clear but from the quote "I thought the tarmac was the cement runway, but it's actually a hundred yards or so on each side." I would assume the B-24 was about to take off, and as any good photographer would, he was trying to get the best shot he could of the departing aircraft. So he just happened to wander too far.

That's how I took it anyway

[Kendoway]

Airports are freaky places now days. There is a giant p*ssing contest ongoing between the GA community and DHS. DHS wants all airports to be treated the same security wise from JFK to Ma & Pa's Country Airstrip and BBQ Joint.

Agreed. A friend of mine flies his old Luscombe and Bellanca out of a small FBO here in central Virginia, and the Feds are making it harder and harder to just go out and have a fun spin. I'm going to try and go up with him soon so that I can snap few pictures. I love small FBOs (especially the grass field ones), as they can be so much fun.

[FlyingPhotog]

Agreed. A friend of mine flies his old Luscombe and Bellanca out of a small FBO here in central Virginia, and the Feds are making it harder and harder to just go out and have a fun spin. I'm going to try and go up with him soon so that I can snap few pictures. I love small FBOs (especially the grass field ones), as they can be so much fun.

Silliest thing I've seen:

Because the walkway between buildings at the Mid Atlantic Air Museum is technically inside the airport boundary at Spaatz Field (Reading, PA), you have to be escorted.

Reading doesn't have scheduled air service anymore, but the airport is big enough that it could so the TSA has decreed the extra "security."

it is to weep...

[Jon]

I think I can top that.
Colonial Flying Corps at the New Garden Airport (N57) (http://www.n57.com/) has an annual air show; they offer joyrides. However, the pilot must have undergone drug testing in order to fly. OK - fine, so far; the guy who's been doing hte hops in my BiL's Cherokee Six flies for one of the majors out of PHL, so he's been tested. But this year it was decreed that the facility must have an on-premises drug testing program to be able to fly passengers for hire. What? So the only rides this year were provided by someone based at Chester County who brought in their plane, so, go figure, was OK (since Chester County Airport has a drug testing program).