FAA warns civilian pilots not to stray

From Patty Davis
CNN Washington Bureau

The Federal Aviation Administration officially warned civilian pilots they may be shot down by the U.S. military if they enter restricted or prohibited air space.

The agency says that drastic action would be the military's last resort -- after attempting to intercept and force down the aircraft.

The new warning, first reported Thursday by CNN's John King, stems from the terrorist hijackings on September 11. The FAA says it also plans to announce new restricted and prohibited areas throughout the United States. The warning applies to all -- commercial and private -- pilots.

In addition, the federal government will restrict airspace over facilities like dams, power plants, and other "key industrial assets and areas that are important to protect national security."

Before this latest restriction, FAA spokesman Bill Shuman says, if pilots entered restricted or prohibited airspace they were reprimanded.

Meanwhile on Friday, the FAA eased up on other restrictions, allowing general aviation pilots to operate under visual flight restrictions, permitting news helicopters, airplanes towing banners and sightseeing operations to take to the skies again. However, those aircraft have to avoid the airspace around the nation's 30 biggest airports.

General aviation planes using visual flight rules also cannot fly within 25 miles of Washington's Reagan National Airport and New York's Kennedy Airport -- that restriction has been in effect and continues.