Busted Adiz again??

[Capthuff]

OK - who was the idiot that did it this time....

All I know is MSNBC says an aircraft @ 16000' and 250kts was intercepted and the Capital was evacuated.

 

[Metro752]

Thats right folks, once again some sha'thead busted the ADIZ.

I am gonna guess it was a Pilatus, the PC-12

 

[logansun]

Not me.

 

[Crizz]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,161154,00.html



Apparently it was the dreaded "King 350"

 

[Wankel7]

Maybe they thought the King Air had a Nordon Bomb Sight ?

 

[minitour]

...hmm....anyone got a tail no? Curiosity's got the better of me...

-mini

 

[YourNameHere]

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=8933794​

Plane triggers security alert in Washington

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A private plane strayed into restricted airspace over Washington on Wednesday evening, prompting security agents to move President Bush to a safer location and causing the evacuation of the U.S. Capitol, officials said.


Spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush was in the White House residence and was "temporarily relocated" without incident. The House and Senate, both of which were in session, were also briefly evacuated.

It was the second time in less than two months that a security scare involving a private plane prompted authorities to evacuate the Capitol complex and take extraordinary security precautions at the White House. Bush was not at the executive mansion during the May 11 incident.

Wednesday's incident ended within several minutes after the plane, described as a Beechcraft King Air 300, was intercepted by military and homeland security aircraft about eight miles from the capital.

The twin-engine turboprop was heading to Defiance, Ohio, from Wilmington, Delaware, and was turning away from Washington when confronted, officials said.

Aviation and homeland security officials said it appeared the wayward aircraft strayed into restricted airspace around 6:30 p.m. EDT to avoid bad weather. The plane was traveling at roughly 200 knots.

At the White House, the security alert was raised to red but was lowered to yellow within minutes, McClellan said.

Bush was moved from the residence to an undisclosed location, McClellan said. During the last alert first lady Laura Bush was moved to a secure location within the White House complex.

Homeland Security Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said the plane was directed to land at an airport in Winchester, Virginia, where it would be met by law enforcement authorities.

At the Capitol, police sent an e-mail message to senators saying they were tracking an unidentified aircraft. "All persons in the U.S. Capitol, Hart, Dirksen and Russell buildings should evacuate now," the alert said.

The Senate was voting on an amendment to an appropriations measure act and the House of Representatives was in the middle of a vote on transportation funding when the evacuation order was issued.

The Senate resumed its vote as soon as members were allowed back in the chamber. The House also resumed its work without further incident.

Tight security precautions have been in effect around the U.S. capital since the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon building near Washington. However, aviation officials said the restricted flight zone around the capital region is violated frequently, almost always inadvertently by private pilots.

_____________________________________________________________________

Interesting choice. Fly through thunderstorms or bust the ADIZ.

http://www.liveatc.net/.archive/wx_radar/DIX/DIX-06-29-05-1830-radar.jpg

 

[Flying Illini]

<sigh>
Not good, this just adds fuel to the fire to keep the capitol off limits to those "dangerous little planes."
Seriously, the KA350 is an aircraft that is usually flown by a professional. WHY DID THIS HAPPEN?! You've got to be deaf and dumb to bust the adiz as a professional aviator.
Why didn't they use the laser system? I thought it was designed for this very purpose. Probably wouldn't have helped though, this guy didn't even realize he was anywhere near DC.
All the hard work that people are putting into getting DCA reopened and the ADIZ restrictions lessened was just flushed down the toilet. Great work KA350 pilot.

 

[Flying Illini]

I couldn't resist...

He probably called "traffic in sight" too quickly and followed the wrong guy.

 

[bandit110]

Two things:

1 If he was going from Delaware to Ohio what was he doing in DC?

2 If he was going from Delaware to Ohio in a King Air with todays weather why wasn't he IFR?

Just seems weird to me.

 

[bigD]

2 If he was going from Delaware to Ohio in a King Air with todays weather why wasn't he IFR?

I'm curious - where did you read that he was VFR?

 

[Flying Illini]

I'm curious - where did you read that he was VFR?

Whatever this means...the media could have it wrong.

Bracken said the pilot wrote a flight plan but did not file it with federal officials.

We left HEF (supposed to go to IAD yesterday but we weren't going to wait out a 2hr ground stop!) today for CMI around 12:30. Part of our brief was the mention that we're in the ADIZ, DC is just East of us. Let's not go that way if we don't have to. Confirm the "reply" light comes on when we turn the transponder on.
Basically, it was just a reminder (like we needed it) about where we were operating and to not do anything stupid.

 

[bigD]

Ah thanks Illini - I only read what was quoted. Should have done some more digging before I posted.

 

[9GClub]

If he was going from Delaware to Ohio what was he doing in DC?

Busting the ADIZ........

 

[Mr Freeze]

Were there thunder storms in the area? He may have been deviating around weather and inadvertently flew through the DC ADIZ.

 

[gfvalvo]

Well...in a straightline...I'm pretty sure Delaware to Ohio = going through the ADIZ.

If the media reports are correct, they were going from Wilmington, DE to Defiance, OH.
KILG..KDFI takes you well north of the ADIZ

Greg

 

[paulsalem]

Anyone find it odd that the police sent an email out to evacuate?

 

[transpondersoff]

I don't know if the kingair had passengers on board or not. It is possible there were passengers who pressured the pilots into not waiting for a ground stop to go anyway and the pilots couldn't get any higher. The other problem is that you can't fly over top the ADIZ vfr because the ADIZ goes up to 18,000 right up to class A airspace. So possibly trying to please impatient passengers and getting painted into a corner by weather and TFR airspace, one can easily see how the ADIZ can be violated.

The possibility of launching VFR into weather that may have to be deviated around and a ADIZ violation will not look good for the pilot. I see a careless and wreckless violation coming. On a side note, if the passengers were pressuring the pilot to not wait for a groundstop because they had to get to Ohio did they get there in time anyway? No, the plane was forced to land in Winchester VA and I am certain they were detained while an investigation was completed. This all is speculation on my part, but it would explain why a professional crew would allow themselves to be painted into a corner. Passenger pressure has killed many, look no further than the accident in Aspen.

 

[Flying Illini]

transpondersoff,
Pax pressure has killed before. Why haven't professional crews learned to just say "no." Remember, learn from other's mistakes b/c you won't live long enough to make them all yourself. IF what you are suggesting is what happened, the crew had other options. They should have re-evaluated once they made the decision to launch VFR. They should have noted the ADIZ location and said, OK, we will go North, around the ADIZ before turning East. Wait, there is wx to the north, ok, I guess we can't do that. "Sorry pax, we're just going to have to wait out the wx, the situation is as follows, t-storms to the north, ADIZ (which we're not allowed to fly in) to the east and south.
When will people stop letting their pax govern how, when, and where they fly?! How many more people have to be injured, violated, killed, etc before we, as pilots, see the light?

 

[gfvalvo]

I don't get it

So possibly trying to please impatient passengers and getting painted into a corner by weather and TFR airspace, one can easily see how the ADIZ can be violated.

Fine, a reasonable scenario. But regardless of the reason, this brings up a question I had following the last ADIZ bust. Why do so many pilots seem to not use VFR Advisories (flight following)? I talk-and-squawk on almost every VFR flight. It's a no-brainer, especially in areas with complex airspace. It gives me:

* Extra set of eyes watching for traffic - yes, I know traffic avoidance is still MY responsibility and it's on a controller workload-permitting basis.

* Quick communications in an emergency. They already know who I am, where I am and where I'm going. Gives the SAR guys a pretty good idea where to start looking.

* Can usually get a quick IFR clearance if the WX turns to crap.

* Might just get a timely warning before I violate some airspace.

So, what's the down side? What's a good reason not to use this service?