Small airports' security could be a weak link

By Scott Bowles, USA TODAY, 11/5/01

VAN NUYS, Calif. — Tucked on the outskirts of Los Angeles, this community's
two-runway airport is the sixth busiest in the nation, handling a
half-million takeoffs and landings, 300,000 passengers, and $1 billion in
business every year.

What the Van Nuys Airport doesn't have are police officers, metal detectors
or baggage X-ray machines.

It doesn't have to. Because Van Nuys is a "general aviation" airport that
caters to private fliers, it does not fall under most federally mandated
security requirements. At Van Nuys and the 4,700 other airports used solely
by general aviation, security is left up to private pilots and airport
operators.

In some airports, that security includes armed guards and steel-reinforced
gates. At others, it's nothing more than a chain-link fence, a flimsy
airplane lock or a cashier at a counter. A USA TODAY reporter who visited
three general-aviation airports in the Northeast recently found security
gaps at all three.

Amid growing pressure for tighter security among airlines and the airports
they serve, terrorism experts worry that the nation's fleet of 220,000
private planes remains easy prey for hijackers who might pilot one into a
building or use it to disperse a biological agent.

In early October, a man tried to hijack a medical transport plane at Deming
Municipal Airport in New Mexico, holding a knife to the pilot's throat and
hitting her on the head before fleeing. Sixty-six general-aviation aircraft
were stolen from 1998 through this year, according to the Aviation Crime
Prevention Institute.

"You could steal a plane off a runway more easily than you could steal a car
out of a parking garage," says Brian Barron, Los Angeles aviation security
consultant. "Most private planes sit at unguarded airports with a lock you
could pick with a hairpin."

Private pilots and airport operators counter that the general aviation
threat is exaggerated, as is the appeal of small planes to terrorists.

"Most planes are small, light and carry less payload than a compact car,"
says Warren Morningstar, a spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots
Association, whose members use general-aviation airports. "We don't think
there is a significant threat."

The federal government sees things differently. After the attacks, the
Federal Aviation Administration expanded the restricted air space
surrounding 30 metropolitan airports, effectively grounding most general
aviation.

Although the government lifted many restrictions, airspace remains
restricted in New York, Washington and Boston, leaving at least 11 airfields
shuttered. Total general aviation losses have been estimated so far at $400
million, and some project they could climb to $2 billion. The FAA says it
has no immediate plans to lift those restrictions, which affect every sector
of general aviation, from corporate jets to grounded television news
choppers.

"General aviation isn't the weekend pilot who can no longer go on a joy
ride," Barron says. "You have a $10 billion industry up in the air while we
try to figure out how dangerous it is."

• Too much convenience a worry

Alex Breshears travels in his Cessna 125 the same way he travels in his
Toyota Camry. He gets in, cranks the engine and takes off.

"I was tired of standing in lines, going through security, having my bags
checked every time I wanted to go somewhere," says Breshears, 47, a Los
Angeles tax attorney who has been a private pilot for more than 20 years and
bought his plane for $16,000 in 1990. "This is a lot more fun, with a lot
less hassle."

But hassle-free travel is what worries some security experts. General
aviation aircraft range from single-seat crop dusters to Boeing business
jets that are as big as 737s, seat a dozen and travel faster than airliners.
Passengers do not have to walk through metal detectors that check for
weapons. They do not face check-in clerks or baggage searches. While flight
training and a medical certificate are required to get a pilot's license —
held by 645,000 people in the USA — no criminal or credit checks are
required.

"The general aviation industry is virtually unregulated," says Phillip
Fowler, a Chicago aviation attorney. "When you look at the industry, you
really don't know who is flying what."

About 90% of the planes registered for private use in the USA are held in
the names of corporations or the lenders that provided financing, making it
impossible to immediately tell who actually owns them. There are about
250,000 planes in regular use, and some 70,000 change hands each year.

But airport operators say that the private flying community is close-knit
and has policed itself to a better safety record than commercial airlines.

"When you get on a general aviation airplane, you're invited — either by
your business or someone who is flying you," says Rick Voorhis, president of
the Van Nuys Flight Center, which sells and services private planes. "It's
not like the airline that sells you a ticket over the Internet. We know who
we deal with."

Voorhis says the risk of private planes is far less than that from private
vehicles, "but you didn't see the public calling for rental trucks to be
restricted after the Oklahoma City bombing."

Timothy McVeigh was convicted for using a rental truck filled with
explosives to blow up a federal office building there.

• Closer looks at trainees

Still, even private pilots and instructors worry that camaraderie may not be
enough to secure the skies.

"I'm taking a second look at my students," says Denver flight instructor
Ralph Fox. "I'm asking for a lot more identification since all this
happened. There's still a risk. You can never really know what a person is
capable of. But I'm going to get to know my students — what they do for a
living, who their football team is — before I take him up and teach him how
to fly."

Maggie Oyen would like to see the FAA's pilot licensing rules changed. She
says her license looks like a fake. Oyen, a pilot, instructor and Boston
floral designer, says the licenses "are laughable."

"There is no picture, no magnetic strip," she says. "It's like a library
card. Anyone could forge one of these things if they wanted to rent a plane
and do some damage. I'm a pilot; we should still be able to fly. But the
government is going to have to take a hard-line stance."

The FAA says it already has, reviewing licensing procedures and
strengthening security at commercial airports. It has virtually grounded the
television news chopper industry, which are all visual flight rule (VFR)
operators.

"We can't cover the news anymore," say Aaron Fitzgerald, a reporter and
helicopter pilot for KCBS in Los Angeles. "We're restricted from covering
any urban news we normally would — car crashes, evacuations. We're left
covering brush fires."

Bill Shumann, a spokesman for the FAA, says no timetable has been set to
change general aviation restrictions. "The FAA continues to work with other
federal agencies, and the goal is to restore the aviation system to what it
was before Sept. 11," he says.

Congress is now weighing whether that's possible. General-aviation security
issues are being discussed along with a bill similar to the $15 billion
bailout package of the commercial airline industry.

Rep. Vernon Ehlers, R-Mich., says it may be too late to keep affected
businesses afloat while federal agencies decide how to handle the general
aviation industry. "I find it very disturbing to have such an unresponsive
part of the federal government," Ehlers says. "Decisions were made that were
very baseless and unfair ... general aviation is one of the lowest threats
on the scale."

Aviation attorney Fowler counters that it's hard to gauge a threat these
days.

"On Sept. 10, no one imagined taking over four commercial jets
simultaneously," he says. "You can't just brush off private planes and say
'They're no risk.' Right now, everything is. The one lesson from Sept. 11 is
if you can imagine it happening, it can happen."

======================
On-site checks show security slips at 3 airports

By Gary Stoller, USA TODAY

Three general aviation airports in the New York City area showed visible
security problems when USA TODAY visited them recently.

Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, the largest of the three, is 7 miles from
Manhattan and one of the busiest private plane airports in the country.

Armed police officers sit in patrol cars at the main and rear entrances to
Teterboro, stopping arriving motorists, questioning them and checking their
identification. But an intruder could walk easily onto the airfield through
gaps in the airport's fence a short distance away.

A section of fence near the airport museum's outdoor exhibits was ripped
open, providing access to tall vegetation near the air-traffic control
tower. Wooden crates were lined up next to another section of the fence,
making it easy for an intruder to climb over the barrier and reach the
airfield.

The airport's general manager, Lanny Rider, later thanked USA TODAY for
bringing the problems to his attention. "I have all kinds of experts looking
at this airport, and no one saw these problems. They are being corrected,"
he said.

Security experts say the security flaws that USA TODAY discovered at
Teterboro, and Oxford and Danbury airports in Connecticut, can be found at
other airports used by private planes. They worry that the planes could be
hijacked and used as missiles, as four airliners were on Sept. 11. Another
concern is that a terrorist might use a small plane to disperse a biological
agent. Weak security could also endanger business executives whose corporate
planes use the airports.

"Security in general aviation is inadequate," says Paul Hudson, executive
director of the Aviation Consumer Action Project.

"The industry went from a complete shutdown in September to a quick lifting
of restrictions at most general aviation airports. Very limited things have
been done to address the problems," says Hudson, who is on a Federal
Aviation Administration security committee for commercial airports and
airlines.

Federal airport security requirements do not apply to the nation's 4,700
airports used only by general aviation. Security often relies solely on a
perimeter fence and locking mechanisms on an aircraft.

So far this year, 14 general aviation airplanes have been stolen, and 61
have been burglarized, according to data compiled by the Aviation Crime
Prevention Institute. Since 1990, the largest number of planes stolen was 56
in 1991 and 42 in 1997.

USA TODAY's airport visits found:

• At Teterboro, where shallow waterways run through the airport, there is no
perimeter fence. "It creates a big problem when you put a fence across a
waterway. If the water rises, you get debris against the barrier," Rider
says.

He says he has asked engineers to evaluate the waterways and come up with a
solution. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs
Teterboro and the New York area's three major airports, is considering other
steps, including video monitoring and a security force to patrol the general
aviation airport's interior.

Even an uninterrupted perimeter fence doesn't guarantee a secure airport. "A
fence is not a security device," Rider says. "It's a deterrent."

At many general aviation airports, the purpose of a perimeter fence is to
keep animals off runways or to protect people from inadvertently walking
onto the grounds and getting injured.

• At Danbury Airport, a section of the perimeter fence is only 4 feet tall,
and small planes are lined up alongside it. Airport administrator Paul
Estefan says "you can step over that fence," but the airport can do nothing
because it's on private property owned by an aviation business, Reliant Air.

Wayne Toher, Reliant Air's president, says the airport permitted him to
erect the low fence in 1992, but a higher fence may be needed now.

"It would be obtrusive and look like a prison compound, but in this climate,
it may make sense."

When USA TODAY visited, there was an open hangar door that provided access
to the airfield. Toher says that is not a regular practice: "We wouldn't
have had the door open unless we were accepting a delivery."

• At Oxford Airport, 25 miles east of Danbury, the perimeter fence is 8 feet
high.

However, on the side of the airport opposite the front gate, a perimeter
gate was open next to a construction site. No construction or airport
workers were evident, and the gate provided access to the airfield and
various corporate jets.

Airport manager Michael O'Donnell says the gate must be kept open for
construction vehicles. He says any perpetrator would be stopped by
construction workers inside a trailer at the site.

In the aftermath of the four Sept. 11 hijackings, National Guard troops have
been assigned to protect general aviation airports, including Oxford and
Danbury. None were seen when USA TODAY visited them, but Estefan and
O'Donnell say there are regular patrols.

© Copyright 2001 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
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