FAA Wants Flight Restrictions Permanent

January 19, 2006 - 6:55am

WASHINGTON (AP) - Despite opposition, the Federal Aviation Administration is pushing to make permanent the strict flight restrictions in the airspace over the D.C. area.

The FAA has held the last of two hearings on its proposal to make some post-Sept. 11, 2001 flight restrictions permanent.

The hearings were prompted by an unprecedented 20,000 public comments on the proposal, which would establish a 3,000-square-mile Air Defense Identification Zone around the region, including the area's three major airports.

Government security agencies say it's needed because planes flown mostly by private pilots, could be misused by terrorists.

But National Air Traffic Controllers Association President John Carr says it's a bad idea being pushed along by by fear and "bureaucratic intertia" that's getting in the way of common sense.

Another critics says the policy puts more people at risk than it protects.

And a private pilot says access to Washington is being restricted to commercial airlines and a privileged few like members of Congress.

According to a report in The Examiner, the FAA estimates the restrictions cost the airports about $45 million a year in lost revenue.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Despite opposition, the Federal Aviation Administration is pushing to make permanent the strict flight restrictions in the airspace over the D.C. area.

The FAA has held the last of two hearings on its proposal to make some post-Sept. 11, 2001 flight restrictions permanent.

Government security agencies say it's needed because planes flown mostly by private pilots, could be misused by terrorists.

But National Air Traffic Controllers Association President John Carr says it's a bad idea being pushed along by by fear and "bureaucratic intertia" that's getting in the way of common sense.

Another critics says the policy puts more people at risk than it protects.

And a private pilot says access to Washington is being restricted to commercial airlines and a privileged few like members of Congress.

According to a report in The Examiner, the FAA estimates the restrictions cost the airports about $45 million a year in lost revenue.

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