TSA wants more flights to DCA

Dave Siciliano

Dave Siciliano

Final Approach
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Dave Siciliano
I wonder why more GA folks don't fly in here (hummmmm)?

At least TSA seems receptive

Best,

Dave
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The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) wants to improve on the anemic number of general aviation flights into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) under post-9/11 security requirements. Former NetJets and Northwest Airlines pilot Brian Delauter, who now heads the GA sector at the TSA, said last week the agency will hold a “mini-summit” with stakeholders next month to find out what works and what doesn’t in the “burdensome” DCA Access Standard Security Program.

Last year’s annual total of 130 general aviation flights barely exceeded the pre-9/11 daily average of 122 flights. Delauter told the National Air Transportation Association Air Charter Summit that NetJets alone had been operating 2,400 flights into DCA annually before the terrorist attacks.



http://tinyurl.com/36myft8
 
Poor guys. They went and hired all of those functional illiterates and they're getting bored after running out of productive citizens to amuse themselves with by harassing.
 
Dave Siciliano said:
...
Last year’s annual total of 130 general aviation flights barely exceeded the pre-9/11 daily average of 122 flights. Delauter told the National Air Transportation Association Air Charter Summit that NetJets alone had been operating 2,400 flights into DCA annually before the terrorist attacks.
...
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Wow! 2.5 GA flights a week!

Who are these guys who are so desperate to land at DCA? Must be corporate execs getting subpoenas to testify before congress. Not the auto companies. They have to drive after they were embarrassed by flying in the first time.
 
flav8r said:
Even prior to 9/11 DCA was never GA friendly.
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I'll disagree with you on that, although my one landing at DCA dates back to 1987 in a Piper Warrior. Landing fee was $8; parking $8 a day. No delays or hassles whatsoever. Just had to be sure you avoided the Prohibited Areas.

Jon
 
More flights --> more fees --> bigger buerocrat fiefdom.
 
It is just a scam to get GA to fly in.. :idea:

They want to show off their spiffy new Blue uniforms and pretent they are god. :dunno::D
 
N801BH said:
It is just a scam to get GA to fly in.. :idea:

They want to show off their spiffy new Blue uniforms and pretent they are god. :dunno::D
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I want to be watching when the TSA goon breaks out the power attitude with their (usually unsaid except to each other), "Do you want to fly today?"

"Just how do you imagine you're going to stop me from flying today?"
 
DCA should be accessible to anyone with a FRZ PIN.
 
ScottM said:
IMHO DCA should be accessible to anyone.
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Ideally, yes. But that's not going to happen.

I do understand their desire to know who is piloting planes that basically turn final right next to the whitehouse. Would be nice if they didn't have to care, but they do.

The current FRZ PIN process leaves to be desired. It consists of two steps that require personal presence: Fingerprints at the DCA operations office and a visit to the Glen Burnie or Chantilly FSDO to have a FAA records check. Both of these steps could be performed at:
- any airport ops office that is part of the 'TSA fingerprint clearinghouse'
- any FSDO.
With that PIN, you should also be allowed to fly into the various national security TFRs without much of an additional process.
 
Actually, what's happening here is that they've increased the hassle factor of flying in to DCA to the point that most just don't jump through the hoops to do it. So, who's left using the GA access? Government agency and congressional flights. Since it's in their interest to keep the GA facility (Signature Flight Support) up and running there, they're required to pay a huge premium for what has basically become nearly exclusive access to DCA. Someone in the budget office probably woke up to the fact that the government use of the airport would be a lot cheaper if it was subsidized over a much larger number of GA flights so now they're "encouraging" access. What other possible reason could there be for the government to want more GA flights to DCA? Anyone think that they're suddenly interested in GA stimulus?

But while the traffic is low, it'll continue to be expensive to operate in/out of there and I'm not sure what "encouragement" the government can offer anyone to use the airport more as long as you've got to jump through all the hoops and continue to get power tripped on by the local DHS/TSA guys.
 
Kill the SFRA around DC and you'll get GA back into the airport.
 
BillTIZ said:
Kill the SFRA around DC and you'll get GA back into the airport.
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How that? The DCA restrictions would still be in place, SFRA or not. Make DCA a regular SFRA airport and plenty of people would fly there. Manassas is in the SFRA, looks pretty busy to me.
 
BillTIZ said:
Kill the SFRA around DC and you'll get GA back into the airport.
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The SFRA in it's current incarnation and use is pretty much a non-event if you know a few simple rules. I fly in/out of it nearly daily and it's very low hassle now compared to when it first went in to effect as the Washington DC ADIZ. I've also come to accept the notion that the SFRA is there to protect us as GA flights from trigger happy secret service guys as much as it's to protect anyone inside the FRZ.

What needs to be gotten rid of is a completely Constitution trashing policy of ignoring our right to privacy in our travels. Unless The Man has some proof that I'm doing something wrong, then who I travel with and where and when I go is my private business and certainly not open to government oversight. We have to be smarter than that in providing homeland security than to be prying into the private lives of law abiding citizens.
 
BillTIZ said:
Kill the SFRA around DC and you'll get GA back into the airport.
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It's all just politics, and it's not about what's reasonable or justified.

If you're a politician, you can either

1) leave the SFRA as is and be protected from criticism in case something happens or
2) abandon the SFRA and be exposed to criticism in case something happens.

Even if the likelihood of something actually happening is very small, of course you'll always choose #1. It's all about getting reelected....
 
Current HowTo Summary? - Re: TSA wants more flights to DCA

I saw a thread on how to fly into DC somewhere else on POA, but as I recall it was less current than this one. Would anyone be willing to post a summary of the options and steps involved? If not in this thread, then please point me to it. We're hoping to fly there either around the time of AirVenture or early Fall. Thanks :)
 
Re: Current HowTo Summary? - Re: TSA wants more flights to DCA

JohnSBA said:
I saw a thread on how to fly into DC somewhere else on POA, but as I recall it was less current than this one. Would anyone be willing to post a summary of the options and steps involved? If not in this thread, then please point me to it. We're hoping to fly there either around the time of AirVenture or early Fall. Thanks :)
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Buy airline ticket. Undergo strip search (now that TSA is using virtual strip-search machines). Enjoy your flight.

DCA is still, effectively, restricted to bizjets that stop at a gateway airport, undergo TSA screening, and have a (paid by operator) air marshal on board. Small GA plane? Fuggedaboutit.

The best you can do at this point is one of the DC-3 (CGS, W32, VKX). And doing those means a trip to DC area to get fingerprinted and a background check.

Oh, you meant the DC area, not DCA specifically. In that case, do the AOPA and/or or FAA SFRA courses and plan your flight to one of the airports outside the FRZ.
 
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Re: Current HowTo Summary? - Re: TSA wants more flights to DCA

JohnSBA said:
I saw a thread on how to fly into DC somewhere else on POA, but as I recall it was less current than this one. Would anyone be willing to post a summary of the options and steps involved? If not in this thread, then please point me to it. We're hoping to fly there either around the time of AirVenture or early Fall. Thanks :)
Click to expand...

http://www.faasafety.gov/gslac/ALC/course_catalog.aspx

Go to this link and select the course, Washington DC SFRA Rules and Procedures. If you're going to fly within 60 miles of Washington DC, it's required to have completed the course and, I think, be able to prove it if asked by carrying the card on you that you print out at the end of the course.
 
Re: Current HowTo Summary? - Re: TSA wants more flights to DCA

wsuffa said:
Buy airline ticket
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The airline I fly had a seemingly high initial ticket price. :)
The best you can do at this point is one of the DC-3 (CGS, W32, VKX).
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This is helpful info. Thanks for giving me hope, and the nudge to look into the details on the sort of paperwork I abhor. Knowing it is done by mortal VFR pilots like me, makes earning a distant glimpse of my capital seem doable. I'm curious if we will actually see anything, but even landing somewhere nearby will make touring DC easier on one of our East Coast trips.

PittsDriver, thanks for the link and extra details. You're helping it seem almost easy. :)
 
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Re: Current HowTo Summary? - Re: TSA wants more flights to DCA

JohnSBA said:
The airline I fly had a seemingly high initial ticket price. :) This is helpful info. Thanks for giving me hope, and the nudge to look into the details on the sort of paperwork I abhor. Knowing it is done by mortal VFR pilots like me, makes earning a distant glimpse of my capital seem doable. I'm curious if we will actually see anything, but even landing somewhere nearby will make touring DC easier on one of our East Coast trips.

PittsDriver, thanks for the link and extra details. You're helping it seem almost easy. :)
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Here's how to get the clearance for one of the DC-3 airports. The others are similar, but require individual briefings: http://www.hydefield.com/transhowto.htm
 
Thanks for another helpful link. I've opened them all in tabs to read, so now I just need to make time for that! I gather there haven't been any changes to the whole process since the 6/2009 revision date on that website but if so that will hopefully become clear once I wade into the FAA site.
 
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