It was really close...

Officials Weighed Shooting at Errant Plane
By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer 37 minutes ago

As a wayward Cessna flew deep in restricted airspace, national security
officials were on the phone discussing whether to implement the last line of
defense: shooting it down.

The single-engine Cessna that prompted a frenzied evacuation of the White
House, Capitol and Supreme Court on Wednesday veered away from downtown
landmarks just before that decision needed to be made.

But it was a close call.

One senior Bush administration counterterrorism official said it was "a real
finger-biting period because they came very close to ordering a shot against
a general aircraft."

"How many more seconds away or minutes - it was within a very small window
where there would have been the decision," said the official, who spoke only
on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Administration officials spent Thursday reviewing the bizarre series of
events involving the small plane, which was carrying a pilot and a student
pilot from Pennsylvania to an air show in North Carolina. It entered
restricted airspace and then continued flying toward highly sensitive areas,
prompting evacuations of tens of thousands of people as military aircraft
scrambled to intercept it.

Hundreds of planes have encroached on the airspace since the Sept. 11
attacks, but none is believed to have gone so far - within three miles of
the White House.

Lt. Col. Tim Lehmann, one of two F-16 fighter pilots who tracked the Cessna,
said he was prepared to use deadly force. He said he realized how serious
the situation became when he looked at the Cessna and saw the Washington
Monument in the background.

"We may have been on the cusp of some kind of engagement," Lehmann said. "I
don't know how close we came."

A response system put in place after the attacks, coordinated in part by the
Homeland Security Department's classified operations center, alerted other
areas of the federal government to the incoming plane. Security forces at
individual facilities and agencies decided on a case-by-case basis whether
to evacuate or raise their alert level.

Alert levels at the White House and the Capitol were raised to their highest
level - red - at the height of the frenzy.

President Bush, biking at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in
Beltsville, Md., was unaware of the midday scare as it was occurring. His
security detail knew of the raised threat level but did not tell him.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said that a review of how the
situation was handled was being conducted. But he said Bush was not upset
that he was not filled in.

"The president has a great amount of trust in his security detail,"
McClellan said. "If there are any improvements that need to be made, they
will be made."

Immediately after the Cessna entered the restricted 30-mile radius Air
Defense Identification Zone at 11:28 a.m. EDT, authorities activated the
Domestic Events Network to share information as they tracked the plane. The
network, a conference call of officials from the Homeland Security
Department, Customs and Border Protection, the Pentagon, the Federal
Aviation Administration and a handful of other agencies, lasted until the
Cessna landed just over an hour later.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was apprised of the situation as it
unfolded. He is among a small handful of top Pentagon officials who can
order a shootdown. The president also may give such an order.

Pentagon officials sought to play down the incident, saying the small plane
was not seen as a serious threat and did not come close to being shot down.
Homeland Security spokesman Brian Roehrkasse declined to comment on how
close it was.

Brian Jenkins, counterterrorism analyst for the RAND Corp. think tank,
agreed the threat from the Cessna was limited.

"The quantity of explosives that you can pack in a little Cessna is not the
quantity of explosives you see placed in these big truck bombs," Jenkins
said. "In terms of explosives, it probably could not do that much damage."

However, government officials also had to consider the possibility it was
carrying chemical or biological weapons. A relatively small amount of either
could have devastating effects.

Customs officials scrambled a Black Hawk helicopter and a Cessna Citation
jet at 11:47 a.m. to intercept the plane and were joined a few minutes later
by two Air National Guard F-16 fighter jets.

The Cessna pilot appeared confused by the aircraft escort and did not
respond to repeated signals ordering the plane to turn away. The F-16s fired
four warning flares before the Cessna finally veered west and away from the
secure zone. They landed safely at an airport in Frederick, Md. Officials
Weighed Shooting at Errant Plane

--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message

Officials Weighed Shooting at Errant Plane
By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer 37 minutes ago

As a wayward Cessna

What really amazes me is that there will apparently be no certificate action
taken against these two nimrods. Not only did they barge right into
probably the best known restricted/prohibited airspace in the world, but,
according to one of the scrambled F16 pilots, they continued on this errant
course for several minutes while the interceptors were crossing paths and
ejecting flares. What in God's name did they think was going on? Just how
stupid do you have to be?

("Jay Honeck" wrote)
[snip]
As a wayward Cessna flew deep in restricted airspace, national security
officials were on the phone discussing whether to implement the last line
of defense: shooting it down.


So, where do "the other" bullets go? You know, the ones that miss their
target?


Montblack

"Montblack" wrote in message
...
("Jay Honeck" wrote)
[snip]
As a wayward Cessna flew deep in restricted airspace, national security
officials were on the phone discussing whether to implement the last
line
of defense: shooting it down.


So, where do "the other" bullets go? You know, the ones that miss their
target?


Collateral damage.

Hmm, not to mention a 300lb engine and two (about)170lb bodies.
Don't want to have them coming through my roof.

-Kees

Montblack wrote:
So, where do "the other" bullets go? You know, the ones that miss their
target?


What goes up must come down. Somewhere.




--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE

In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up
because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews. and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a
trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a
Protestant.

Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.

************************************************** *****************************
Now they are willing to kill people who get lost and cross invisible
lines in the sky so that the powerful and the politically connected can
feel safe... Will they next start shooting our children because they
ride their bikes across an invisible line on the ground?

The Patriot Act, is not...

denny

I'm sure there'll be action against the pilot. The FAA won't
just let it slide.


"John Gaquin" wrote in message
...

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message

Officials Weighed Shooting at Errant Plane
By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer 37 minutes ago

As a wayward Cessna

What really amazes me is that there will apparently be no certificate
action taken against these two nimrods. Not only did they barge right
into probably the best known restricted/prohibited airspace in the world,
but, according to one of the scrambled F16 pilots, they continued on this
errant course for several minutes while the interceptors were crossing
paths and ejecting flares. What in God's name did they think was going
on? Just how stupid do you have to be?

Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.

************************************************** *****************************
Now they are willing to kill people who get lost and cross invisible
lines in the sky so that the powerful and the politically connected can
feel safe... Will they next start shooting our children because they
ride their bikes across an invisible line on the ground?

Denny, normally I'm right with you and your thoughts -- but this is an
absurd comparison.

We have restricted areas over our seat of government for very clear and
well-defined reasons, and every certificated pilot knows it. To compare
this situation to what the Nazis did is to trivialize the death of millions.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

What really amazes me is that there will apparently be no certificate
action taken against these two nimrods.

Why do you say that?

I would expect at least a suspension.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"