FAA: 157 airspace violations since 9/11

Considering how restrictions pop up without warning, I'm not surpised:

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.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records show that in the year
since the terrorist attacks, planes have flown into off-limits
airspace near the White House seven times.

Over the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland, the FAA says
there were 104 violations.

And over President Bush's ranch at Crawford, Texas, FAA-listed
violations numbered 46.
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
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. (You can view the FAA charts of
flight-restricted areas at
http://www.faa.gov/NTAP/specialnotam..._graphics_.htm)

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."

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.