FAA: 157 airspace violations since 9/11

Cummings: 'We have to fill that gap'

From Kathleen Koch (CNN)

A chart posted on the FAA Web site shows the "Special Flight Rules Area" in Washington.

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VIDEO CNN's Kathleen Koch reports that scores of planes have flown in off-limits airspace over presidential residences since 9/11 attacks. (September 21) PLAY VIDEO • Interactive: The hunt for al Qaeda • Audio slide show: Bin Laden's audio message, 2/03 • Terror warning system • Special report: Terror on tape • Special report: War against terror

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and despite heightened security, 157 planes have violated airspace over presidential residences, CNN has learned.

The FAA issued a warning to pilots this summer after a weekend in which three aircraft flew into prohibited airspace over Camp David while the Bush family was there.

One of the violators was an ultralight aircraft that the Secret Service spotted when it was directly overhead. Military pilots couldn't track the small plane, which doesn't show up on radar, and it got away.

In a recent address to airline pilots, Art Cummings, chief of the FBI's National Joint Strategic Assessment and Warning Section, cautioned, "We've seen terrorist organizations looking at everything as small as ultralights to deliver weapons of mass destruction ...

"That's yet another vulnerability that we have to take a look at very strongly," he said. "We have to fill that gap."

The Secret Service would not comment on the potential threat posed by small aircraft.

Off-limits charts posted

This "Temporary Flight Restriction" chart on the FAA Web site is posted to guide pilots away from airspace over Camp David.

The FAA in July for the first time began posting charts on its Web site showing the off-limits airspace, so pilots could see on a map where they cannot fly. (FAA charts of flight-restricted areas)

Still, problems continued.

During Labor Day weekend, while Bush was at his Texas ranch, five planes flew into the prohibited airspace. All were escorted down by fighter jets.

Pilots who violate prohibited airspace can be fined or have their licenses revoked or suspended. But the most common penalty is remedial training, according to the FAA.

While some lawmakers have asked for tougher penalties, others, including Rep. James Oberstar of Minnesota, say the FAA is sometimes at fault for not giving pilots adequate or accurate information.

"FAA has to shoulder the responsibility," said Oberstar, who chaired the House Aviation Subcommittee from 1989 through 1994, when Republicans became the majority party.

"Pilots don't have accurate information," he said. "They don't have consistent and recurrent training. And they ought to get that and the FAA ought to provide it."

The FAA's chart for Crawford, Texas, marks restricted airspace over the Bush ranch.

Tom Blank, the Transportation Security Administration's associate undersecretary for security regulation and policy, said the new agency is addressing the problem.

"Of course we want to see them (violations) come down. We're hard at work trying to do that," he said. "We think we can make some progress in the months ahead."

But Blank said measures, some of them not visible to the public, are in place to ensure Bush's safety is not threatened.

"Suffice it to say that preparations are made to take the proper steps to defend Washington and defend what's inside the other restricted airspaces around the country," he said.

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