Enough is enough

Aviation Aviation News
1

aopa.org/whatsnew/newsitems/ … nough.html
:smiley:

[quote=“Phil Boyer”]Mayor Daley’s latest rants have sent me over the edge. He used the accident in New York to once again demand a no-fly zone over downtown Chicago for general aviation aircraft.
Mayor Daley

It was expected, of course. He has an irrational hatred for piston-engine aircraft, as evidenced by his illogical tirade this week. “They should not jeopardize, through intentionally or by accident, a single- or two-engine plane flying over our city [sic],” the Meigs Field destroyer exploded at a press conference. (I don’t think he was including Boeing 737s, 757s, and 767s in his list of twin-engine aircraft.) “Remember: a single- or two-engine plane can kill as many people as possible if they want to.”

And if it were just Daley, I’d ignore his ravings, just as the folks in the federal government in charge of security and airspace do.

But it’s not just him. Other politicians (with the spectacular and notable exception of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg) and self-appointed “experts” are jumping on the tragic accident repeat, accident in New York to sound off again about the “danger” of light aircraft, and how they must be regulated, restricted, banned.

OK, for all of those ranting about “threats” from GA aircraft, we’ll believe that you’re really serious about controlling “threats” when you call for:

* Banning all vans within cities. A small panel van was used in the first World Trade Center attack. The bomb, which weighed 1,500 pounds, killed six and injured 1,042.
* Banning all box trucks from cities. Timothy McVeigh's rented Ryder truck carried a 5,000-pound bomb that killed 168 in Oklahoma City.
* Banning all semi-trailer trucks. They can carry bombs weighing more than 50,000 pounds.
* Banning newspapers on subways. That's how the terrorists hid packages of sarin nerve gas in the Tokyo subway system. They killed 12.
* Banning backpacks on all buses and subways. That's how the terrorists got the bombs into the London subway system. They killed 52.
* Banning all cell phones on trains. That's how they detonated the bombs in backpacks placed on commuter trains in Madrid. They killed 191.
* Banning all small pleasure boats on public waterways. That's how terrorists attacked the USS Cole, killing 17.
* Banning all heavy or bulky clothing in all public places. That's how suicide bombers hide their murderous charges. Thousands killed.

Number of people killed by a terrorist attack using a GA aircraft? Zero.

Number of people injured by a terrorist attack using a GA aircraft? Zero.

Property damage from a terrorist attack using a GA aircraft? None.

So Mr. Mayor (and Mr. Governor, Ms. Senator, Mr. Congressman, and Mr. “Expert”), if you’re truly serious about “protecting” the public, advocate all of the bans I’ve listed above. Using the “logic” you apply to general aviation aircraft, you’re forced to conclude that newspapers, winter coats, cell phones, backpacks, trucks, and boats all pose much greater risks to the public.

So be consistent in your logic. If you are dead set on restricting a personal transportation system that carries more passengers than any single airline, reaches more American cities than all the airlines combined, provides employment for 1.3 million American citizens and $160 billion in business “to protect the public,” then restrict or control every other transportation system that the terrorists have demonstrated they can use to kill.

If you’re not willing to be consistent, then we might think that you’re pandering to uninformed public fears, posturing from the soapbox of demagoguery, screaming security for your own political ends.
[/quote]

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Q: What’s 10,000 politicians at the bottom of a lake?
A: A good start!

I’m glad to see at least one politician recognizes the benefits of small aircraft. I still don’t see how His Royal Idiot Daley got away with destroying Meigs Field!

3

The version of that joke I’ve heard is a lot less PC. :wink:

4

The version I heard mentioned 10,000 accordian players. What was yours?

5

There was actually one terrorist attack by GA aircraft. In 2002, there was a 15 year old flight student who flew into the Bank of America building in Tampa

http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Death/Bishop.html
http://www.namibian.com.na/2002/January/world/0236B66D4F.html

As I remember, only the pilot was killed. He was an Osama sympathyzer, although his mother blames his suicide on acne medicine.

Of course, if they bad GA aircraft for fears of terror, they must also ban airlines, since they have done much more damage… and drigibles… and military fighters because they can cause damage too.

And ban vehicles. And ban waepons… even butter knives… Yup, we’ll all just have to rub the stick of butter on toast for the sake of national security.

But don’t stop there… People gathering in even small groups have pulled terrorist plots, so you have to ban families, churches, schools, and even congress.

And we can’t leave the house, because we could have a bomb strapped to us.

It’s people who think like Mayor Daley that make me angry. Yes, accidents happen. In this one, only two (or more, I didn’t read too much of it, been too busy) people were killed. How mny times have there been more than 2 people killed when a car made a wrong turn and slammed into a building or a phone pole.

Accidents happen. Terrorism happens too. And unfortunately, the government thinks that in order to protect us from foreign terrorists, they have to terrorize americans by taking away our rights.

And what about domestic terrorism? What about the guy who stole my identity? The police here and where he lived wanted nothing to do with it. He was trying to go to Britain. What if he was a terrorist and was trying to fund something with my money.

Sorry for the rant, I’m all sorts of angry right now.

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I’m from Chicago. Daley’s actions toward general aviation, as one might expect, make me cringe. I think most pilots would have been sad, to one degree or the next, to see Meigs close, but it was the WAY Meigs was closed that, I think, made it such a devestating loss. Meigs was closed for all the wrong reasons, in a destructive way, in a way that is in accord with a terrorist action. I only flew out of Meigs once, on a young eagles flight. I was never privlidged enough to fly into Meigs, as it had already closed before I obtained my PPL. I really don’t know what Daley has against general aviation. I really don’t understand it. He isn’t a BAD mayor, but when it comes to his totilitarian policy toward GA, he sucks. It’s a shame, it really really is.

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What if he was a terrorist and was trying to fund something with my money.

Well. I guess you’d get 15-50 years for financial support of terrorism. :stuck_out_tongue:

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Dailey likely has nothing against small airplanes for real.

It’s likely just the ancient game of taking a stand to get votes. There are lots more people who dislike GA noise and/or see it as a “rich guy” thing than there are folks like us. He is simply pandering to form an image of himself as being for the “little guy” so as to hide his real image as a power mongering, dishonest, oligarchical, Chavenista.

We need to gain allies by making people see our side by pointing out how his methods are a danger to their interests. People don’t think he will close the RC car field, the computer gaming store, the needle point shop, or the kitchen supply store. If we could show that something like these were actually a greater threat to public safety we would gain ground.

9

“What do you call 10,000 lawyers at the bottom…”

Reminds me of a Jay Leno joke from waaaaaaaay back shortly after the conclusion of Operation Desert Storm: “Washington has begun sending legal teams into Kuwait to survey and estimate the damages in preparation for legal actions to seek reparations from the Iraqi government. Y’see, our government has it all wrong…First, you send over the lawyers, THEN you start dropping bombs!!!”

10

If we don’t get a handle on these terrorist before they get to us, Katie by the door. We not going to get to go back to pre-911 freedom.