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People Ask – Why did you quit flying? Here is one major reason
Posted on November 3rd, 2005 No comments……….THERE IS TOO MUCH BS TODAY – WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY AND THEY IS US………
TSA CLOSES D.C.-AREA AIRPORT…
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on Tuesday informed Potomac Airfield — one of three small GA airports in the Washington area that operate under special post-9/11 security regulations — that its security program has been suspended, effectively closing down operations. “The airport was told it is not in compliance with its approved security plan,” TSA spokesman Darrin Kayser told AVweb yesterday. “We had told them they were not meeting certain criteria, and then did a spot check over the weekend, and found they are still not in compliance.” Exactly what those measures are that were supposed to be followed, or what the transgressions were, the TSA will not discuss. More……AIRFIELD OWNER DEFIANT…
David Wartofsky, owner of Potomac Airfield, told AVweb yesterday that he is working to get the situation rectified. He says the security procedures he has put into place at Potomac are not exactly those prescribed by the TSA plan, but in fact are enhanced. “It’s like if they told you to use 25-watt light bulbs and instead I put in 100 watts,” he said. “It’s not what is in the plan, but it meets and exceeds what is in the plan.” He also said that he’s been caught in a Catch-22 because the TSA says the only approved procedures are the ones they sign off on, but then the agency won’t sign off on any of his requests for revisions to enhance the procedures. Wartofsky added that he is working through the White House and Congress to try to get clarification of whether the TSA has the authority to dictate to him what is acceptable for what he says is a “private security plan” that he has implemented in addition to the plan required by the TSA. More……AND 90 AIRPLANES GROUNDED
About 90 airplanes are on the ground at the airport and about 400 pilots have passed the necessary security procedures to operate there. A plan is in place to allow those airplanes to be flown off the field tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday. (Hopefully, nobody had other plans.) Wartofsky said he is hopeful that a mutually agreeable solution to the problem can be reached soon and the airport will be back in operation. “The agency will continue to work with the Potomac Airfield staff on the issues surrounding the suspension,” the TSA said in its news release. Pilots in need of more information from the TSA regarding Potomac Airfield, including aircraft relocation plans, should contact TSA program manager Dirk Ahle at (571) 227-1898.


