132 Ways to Restrict our Freedom

In his New York Time article A Threat in Every Port, Dr. Lawrence Wein provides a summary of his path analysis on bomb delivery to a US city. In his final sentence, he writes:

But its bigger task is to turn that analysis into action, initially by stepping up the screening of air cargo, better monitoring domestic flights by small planes, and improving the ability to detect highly enriched uranium and fissile material at sea.

The second item, monitoring domestic flights by small planes, does not sit equally with the other suggested actions. Consider that land borders are the LEAST controlled elements of our nation. They are hard to secure. Immigrants and illegal substances make it into this country every DAY. Once in, a van can move substances just about every where. For example, it could be driven into a parking garage of a major building in a big city without much notice. A small plane entering class B airspace without a clearance is going to get noticed. Most cities reside under class B airspace. Perhaps he thinks this is an easier target. However, the author states the terrorists will find alternate paths, so easy does not always mean cost effective. Within the last few years, a small plane can not get close to the monuments in DC. A few years ago, a disgruntled citizen drove a farm tractor into the tidal basin, IN THE MIDDLE OF MORNING RUSH HOUR!

I would like to see some domain experts weight the 132 paths. I think it is necessary before recommendations are made. Before this is done, such analysis can only be deemed incomplete.

I can think of quite a few benefits to increasing land border security. It seems to me, this would be a better use of American dollars than going after GA.

This suggestion does not mean GA cannot be involved in the security of America. I have yet to see a comprehensive online training course offered to pilots on how to notice suspicious behavior and provide guidelines on how to help provide security of small air fields. There does not exist a 'hotline' concept or set of procedures for reporting suspicious behavior other than reporting unsafe, accident or incident activities that violate regulations. Let us use the best and most widely spread GA resources, namely FBOs and pilots. Many of resources are already in place to do this. The communication channels and procedure are not!