PUBLIC SUBMISSION | As of: February 13, 2009 Comments Due: November 02, 2005 Late comments are accepted |
Docket: FAA-2004-17005
Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area Special Flight Rules Area
Comment On: FAA-2004-17005-0001
U.S. DOT/FAA - Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)
Document: FAA-2004-17005-9501
Lawrence Wimble - Comments
200 NW Magnolia Cir.
Crystal River,
FL,
34428
I am strongly opposed to making the Washgington Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) permanent. I am a private pilot with about 250 hours. I fly for both business and pleasure; sometimes around the Washington DC area.
The current ADIZ is an absolute operational nightmare. One mistake on a flight plan or perhaps the controller mistakenly hearing your call sign incorrectly will force the pilot into a hold outside the ADIZ for an indeterminate amount of time. Even on the best of days, the ADIZ doesn't work particularly well. As if it's not bad enough that pilots must go through the additional steps of getting a unique transponder code and filing a flight plan, failing to execute the flight-plan exactly as filed or just plain getting lost can cost a pilot and his passengers the ultimate sacrafice: their very LIVES.
According to the Congressional Research Service, there were 3500 incursions into the ADIZ between January 27, 2003 and July 17, 2005. Of these 3500, all but one was an inadvertant incursion. Not ONE of these incursions was terrorist related. The FAA is spending $11 Million per year to maintain the ADIZ, and this says nothing about the costs of deploying military assets every time a pilot gets lost or a misunderstanding happens between pilot and controller.
In Summary, the proposed Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA) is nothing more than a permanent version of something that doesn't work, and costs taxpayers millions of dollars per year for very little benefit. The rules of the current ADIZ were established over a weekend in 2003; hardly enough time to allow proper consideration for all involved. I strongly recommend that the proposed SFRA be immediatly withdrawn until such time as a proper amount of research into a workable and reasonable set of rules can be accomplished.
Lawrence A. Wimble
Crystal River, FL
AOPA #01418545
EAA #628534