Why Was This Airplane Not Shot Down?

Lancaster Online.com: News : Wayward pilots escape charges but not spotlight, By Ad Crable And John M. Spidaliere, Lancaster New Era, Published: May 12, 2005 1:21 PM EST

LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - Millions of Washington, D.C., residents felt that 9/11 chill in the pit of their collective stomach again. What were Hayden “Jim” Sheaffer Jr. and Troy D. Martin thinking? Apparently lost, the two Lancaster County men in an aging single-engine Cessna came within seconds of being shot out of the sky Wednesday as their small plane wandered within 3 miles of the White House, Supreme Court and Capitol over lunchtime.


“They were navigating by sight and were lost,” Kevin Madden, a Justice Department spokesman, said afterward. The incident stumped — and angered some local pilots who couldn’t believe well-liked pilot Sheaffer would knowingly enter restricted air space, which, since September 11, 2001, has been in place for 30 miles around D.C. They did not have a global positioning system device on the plane. Another Smoketown pilot, John Otto, 70, of Lancaster, said there really isn’t an excuse in the post-9/11 world for flying without GPS and not knowing you don’t fly over the nation’s capital.

Yes, shooting down these boobs and their flying tv dinner tray would have been harsh. It would not have been extreme, and the vaunted restraint was not admirable. The plane got within 90 seconds of the major governmental buildings in DC. What is the point of having a no-fly zone of restriction to protect those working in governmental buildings unless enforcement of DO NOT FLY HERE is enforced?

From the article, these people should have known better. They flew unprepared for the modern world by using Lindbergh-era technology. The article suggests they were a blend of the inexperienced and the incompetent, youth lead by someone seasoned. Their deaths would have been sad, indeed--killing them and disintegrating their rattle-trap of an airplane is not the point.

The point is: You either take Homeland Security seriously, or you advertise to the world that you are vulnerable. Had the US government already shot down a few violators, the proper message would have been out there, loud and clear--unmistakeable symbolism.

News reports say there are some 150+ incidents a year. Had some been shot down already, the problem would have long ago disappeared overnight. Second, the world would clearly see our resolve that our own Homeland Security has a deadly meaning for those who would do us harm because we take it seriously.

In so many ways, we seem to be sliding back to 10 September 2001.