Kentucky almost got a new governor

[wvrevy]

Um...Oops
--------------------------
US Air Force almost shot governor out of the sky during Reagan's funeral

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Air Force came close to shooting Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher out of the sky when his twin-engine plane intruded into banned air space over the US capital during the funeral for ex-president Ronald Reagan (news - web sites).


"They had the general on the phone, and he was in position to make the call," an unnamed US official said, referring to North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) commander, Air Force General Ralph Eberhart, who was ready to order an F-16 fighter jet to shoot down the intruder last month.

"This was the closest we have come to making that difficult decision, triggering a chain of events that could be pretty horrific," the official added.

The June 9 incident ended well, with Fletcher's twin-engine BGeechcraft King Air plane landing safely at Reagan National Airport, just over the Potomac River from Washington.

Fletcher was arriving for Reagan's funeral when the plane strayed over restricted airspace that extends 26 kilometers (16 miles) around the Washington Monument obelisk, Washington's best known landmark only a few hundred meters (yards) from the White House.

According to accounts by current and former homeland security officials, Fletcher's plane remained unidentified for several critical minutes and penetrated deeply into the no-fly zone, exposing a significant security breakdown.

They said it was the closes the US government had come to shooting down a civilian plane since the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City and Washington.

They said a fighter plane scrambled to intercept Fletcher's aircraft but could not make visual contact because of cloud cover.

As a result, they said, Eberhart did not give the order to shoot down the plane, which turned to land before it was identified.

 

[ToriLammy]

I hope that oops is for the pilot of the governor's plane and not the response by the Air Force.

 

[wvrevy]

Originally posted by ToriLammy
I hope that oops is for the pilot of the governor's plane and not the response by the Air Force.

Actually, it's a bit of both....That the plane was where it was was a major goof on the part of the pilot....But at the same time, it should never have been allowed to get that far without something triggering a more rapid response. The phrase "...Fletcher's plane remained unidentified for several critical minutes and penetrated deeply into the no-fly zone, exposing a significant security breakdown." probably says it best.

 

[Keli]

Oh my, I hadn't read about this incident.

Eeek, first republican governor in who knows how long, everyone would be yelling that the general that gave the order had to be a democrat! J/K!!!

 

[Eeyore1954]

Wow, it's too bad Van Helsing was wounded in mortal combat recently. He probably would have approved the AF reaction based on this thread.

At least we can all be assured that homeland security appears to be working quite well in Kentucky. (Makes mental note to avoid all flights into KY for the near future.)

 

[Nebsky]

Actually its not all to be blammed on the the pilot...

Flights into the DCA airspace, Washington area are required to have an operational transponder. Transponder gives altitude, speed, bearing updates. Controller will issue a sqwak code for that aircraft and pilot sets his transponder accordingly..

This plane did not have an fully functional transponder and should never have been allowed into the airspace. FAA manually put the info into there system but then there was another system that did not read it correctly.

Your right that it was a security breach. Had FAA followed guidelines he never would have been allowed into there and would have had to put down at Dulles or Baltimore, then catch a ride to Washington. Pilot should have known the rules too. Also should add, my opinion is that most politicians have a bit of an ego. What they say goes. If the pilot knew the rules and told the Gov them, Gov prob said, I need to be there ASAP. Do what you need to do to get us there. Pilot made the request and FAA honored it, but didnt advise everyone.

Im glad nothing bad happened, but rules need to be followed and no one should be exempt from them.

 

[minniepumpernickel]

Wow, we have a pilot on the DIS! Thats pretty cool!

 

[Nebsky]

WISHES HE WAS A REAL PILOT!!
Can the tag fairy honor that request? j/k

I am a pilot, just not a licensed one.

Been flying since I was 11 yrs old. Did my first take off/Landing when I was 12. Just never followed through on getting it my License. Flown lots of planes and actualy airline simulators.
I do work for an airline and understand alot of what goes on inside the cockpit.

Fear not fellow Disers....If Im on your plane and both pilots become ill and cant fly, I guarantee I can get the plane on the ground without incident.

 

[two4ruff]

Nebsky-
Would you mind going on my next flight with me? You described one of my flying nightmares - I would then have one less thing to worry about.
Sincerely,
Nervous Flyer

Sorry to hi-jack the thread momentarily (Wait! Can I say hi-jack on an airplane thread???)

Carry on....

 

[AirForceRocks]

This whole episode just shows why IMO, it is ridiculous to have a "no-fly zone" that contains a major airport within it.

I mean seriously, think about it. We have a no-fly zone, 16 miles in radius from the Washington Monument, and within 2 miles of the monument, there is an airport that has dozens of take-offs and landings every single day. So a plane is coming in, following course exactly, until the last minute, at which point it veers off and hits the Capitol or the White House. There is absolutely no way that anything can prevent that scenario. By the time someone realized the plane was off course, the building(s) would be gone.

 

[UncleKyle]

As a fellow Kentuckian I'm so ashamed that it had to be our governor.

From what the news accounts have said here and I've read online, it looks like it was more of a transponder error than anything else, the Louisville Courier Journal even did an investigation into the maintenance of the plane. It's had a transponder malfunction before and the transponder was examined by the manufacter and they couldn't find a problem with it. Then it just happened to malfuntion on the way to DC. As for Governor Feltcher, he's a former Vietnam Pilot and they didn't even know how close they had come to being shot down. No one knew the panic they had caused until they landed.

 

[minniepumpernickel]

Originally posted by Nebsky
WISHES HE WAS A REAL PILOT!!
Can the tag fairy honor that request? j/k

I am a pilot, just not a licensed one.

Been flying since I was 11 yrs old. Did my first take off/Landing when I was 12. Just never followed through on getting it my License. Flown lots of planes and actualy airline simulators.
I do work for an airline and understand alot of what goes on inside the cockpit.

Fear not fellow Disers....If Im on your plane and both pilots become ill and cant fly, I guarantee I can get the plane on the ground without incident.

Well, that still sounds great! You can fly on my plane anyday!