PressEthic

Just a few weeks beyond the five-year memorial of 9/11 many might be surprised to find that a plane can fly circles around the Statue of Liberty and up the East River well within regulations set by the FAA. The Chicago Tribune stated that

Under aviation regulations that predate the Sept. 11 attacks, private planes such as Lidle's are permitted to fly below 1,100 feet in the East River corridor between Manhattan Island and the borough of Queens. Portions of that corridor are legal for pilots flying small craft under Visual Flight Rules, which means that they rely on their eyes, not instruments, to navigate. They are not permitted to fly over the city unless they receive FAA permission.

I give credit to the journalist who asked why a private plane was being flown in that area to begin with. Perhaps more questions like this will bring attention to what has, and has not, changed in regards to the most fundamental of security concerns. Terrorists who took flying lessons, gained control of commercial airliners and turned them into weapons changed the world five years ago, but perhaps not as much as we tend to think. Nineteen hijackers took control of four commercial airplanes. There are thousands of smaller, accessible airplanes at smaller airports and flying fields across the country and potentially hundreds of terrorists to fly them. Couldn't they be used, stuffed to the wings with explosives, as weapons as well? Tough questions need to be asked why there are still laws, such as this, predating 9/11.