Repeat As Needed: Not A Threat, Not A Threat, Not A Threat
While airspace restrictions over the nation’s capital are in the spotlight lately, the showdown over aviation security vs. the right to fly — and the right to run an on-airport business — continues to play out at local airfields around the country. Last week, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that the top prosecutor for Minnesota, U.S. Atty. Thomas B. Heffelfinger, said security at local airfields was too lax and a terrorist with a small airplane could fly it into the Metrodome, killing 3,000 people. Heffelfinger said the gates at Flying Cloud Airport are often open and anyone can enter unchallenged. Tim Anderson, of the state Airport Commission, however, said that security measures are in place. “There is a limit to how much can be done,” he told the Star Tribune. “If you locked your gates, you just locked your business out.” It’s not practical for flight schools and maintenance shops to lock out their customers, he said, and the cost to guard the gates would be prohibitive.
