Small Local Airports Lack Security

[WIERZBA]

A STORY THAT SHOULD MAKE US PAY MORE ATTENTION

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Nearly three years after the worst attacks ever on American soil, you may be no safer from terrorists who use planes as weapons.


Small Planes May Pose Security Threat
On Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists used big jets; next time they could use small planes, WESH NewsChannel 2 reported.

"These guys were very professional, and they knew exactly what they were doing," Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University representative Richard Theokas said.

Theokas is astounded that thieves were able to steal, strip and dump a plane and get away. It was stolen from Massey Airfield in Edgewater on Feb. 17 and flown to a private airstrip in Crescent City, where it was gutted of $50,000 worth of radios, navigational equipment, and even the propeller.

The plane belonged to Embry-Riddle University. It's one of 70 planes stolen in the United States since 1999 -- most of them since terrorists hijacked airliners and used them as missiles on Sept. 11.

Are Small Airports Too Vulnerable?

Although smaller than commercial jets, planes like them weigh as much as a midsized car, and some aviation experts said they could be very effective weapons for terrorists.

Theokas thinks about that as he wonders who stole the small plane.

"Had that person's intent been to load it up with some plastic explosives and go run it into a federal building or something like that, they might have been able to do that," Theokas said.

The government is so concerned about plane theft that a report from the General Accounting Office last September cited "vulnerabilities in general aviation (small airports) ... weaknesses that could be exploited by terrorists."

Leesburg Regional Airport is typical of most of the nation's 19,000 small airports that are home to more than 200,000 private planes. With no fence, WESH NewsChannel 2's Greg Fox drove all around millions of dollars' worth of aircraft.

Anybody could drive out there, including people who have no idea how to drive around airport property to avoid aircraft to prevent an accident. Fox said he found it as easy to walk onto the airfield as it was to walk onto a Little League field. Many planes were not locked, and a mechanic said it's easier to hotwire and steal a plane than a car.

Two planes have recently been burglarized at Sunair Aviation, their radios and other equipment stolen. That prompted the airport to hire night-time security. But during the day, only one empty deputy sheriff's car was seen.

The real question is how dangerous a small plane might be. It doesn't look very big inside a single-engine plane, but experts said a pilot could just remove all of the seats and have storage all the way back into the tail. Besides the pilot, there's enough room to hold 500 to 600 more pounds.

One group that is critical of the government for failing to secure all airports fears nuclear plants like the one in nearby Crystal River could be terrorist targets.

"A small plane is a concern because of its carrying capacity of high explosives could roughly equate the striking force of a cruise missile," NC WARN representative Jim Warren said.

But others point to the stolen small plane that crashed into a Tampa bank in January 2002. The building was repaired in less than a week. Only the teenage pilot died.

Phil Boyer is head of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. It sponsors Airport Watch, a program that encourages pilots to report suspicious activity. Educational videotapes have been sent to airports and pilots, but the group opposes further small airport restrictions because it doesn't see the risk.

"There is a tremendous difference between the threat and risk of a small airplane and that of an air transport aircraft loaded with jet fuel," Boyer said.

But those on both sides of the debate agree that small airport security can be improved.

"[It could] be a lot safer for the people who own aircraft here," Beau Guest said.

Guest runs an aircraft painting business at Leesburg Regional Airport. He very much believes small planes could be a threat in the hands of terrorists.

"I hope nothing like 9/11 ever happens again, but it's very possible. I mean, you know, you just have to keep our airports safe and make sure that that never does happen again," Guest said.

Leesburg Airport security will improve this fall. The state is spending more than $300,000 on the kind of doors, gates and fencing that is already in place at Daytona Beach, Orlando Executive, and a few other local airports. But for most the gate is wide open to anyone who might use planes as weapons.

Rep. John Mica's office said the congressman is very concerned about small airport security. It's not just a money issue. Mica's people said a thorough assessment of security needs at small airports needs to be done by the government.