General aviation groups angered over 'public menace' reference
January 12, 2011, 09:38 am
Both the National Business Aviation Association and the National Air Transportation Association have made public statements concerning the recent article in the Atlantic magazine, which referred to general aviation as a "public menace".
Jeffrey Goldberg, author of the article, makes the allegation that those who can afford private travel are utilizing private planes to bypass airport security. The article tries to make the point that terrorists who can afford private planes could potentially do the same, therefore posing a risk to the security of the United States.
In a post on NATA's Inside Washington blog, NATA vice president Eric Byer regarded the article as "outlandish" and stated that "Mr. Goldberg’s ignorance of general aviation security, surprising for such a relatively well-known author, is the root cause for the op-ed." The president of the NBAA also wrote a letter to the Atlantic listing some of what he refers to as the "many measures undertaken to harden general aviation against security threats."
Based on statistics, it seems that pilots of private planes should be more concerned about more prevalent causes of crashes than terrorist takeovers. In any case, pilots should ensure that they have adequate pilot insurance in case of an accident.
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