Airspace

A small plane was diverted to Annapolis after it entered restricted airspace in Washington Saturday, according to an air defense spokesman. Two U.S. Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopters diverted the civilian aircraft just before noon under the direction of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, said John Cornelio, a spokesman for NORAD. The plane had gone out of communication in the protected airspace, he said. Cornelio said the pilot would meet with local law enforcement.

The Army is planning to move an over-the-horizon radar system, with more than 100 soldiers and a pair of giant, blimp-like aerostats that fly as high as two miles up, to Aberdeen Proving Ground in the fall, Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger said Thursday. Ruppersberger, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said commanders chose the Army base in Harford County for the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System, or JLENS, because offers FAA-approved restricted airspace and allows for testing weapons tracking over water.

The Army is planning to move an over-the-horizon radar system, with more than 100 soldiers and a pair of giant, blimp-like aerostats that fly as high as two miles up, to Aberdeen Proving Ground in the fall, Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger said Thursday. Ruppersberger, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said commanders chose the Army base in Harford County for the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System, or JLENS, because offers FAA-approved restricted airspace and allows for testing weapons tracking over water.

A civilian aircraft flew in restricted airspace Friday near Camp David in Frederick County, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, said in a statement. An F-15E fighter jet intercepted the Piper plane at about 4:45 p.m., NORAD said. NORAD said that the plane was out of radio communication and that it was escorted to an airport near Martinsburg, W.Va. President Barack Obama was not at Camp David at the time. The airspace over the presidential retreat was limited because he was scheduled to fly there Friday.

A single-engine plane rented in New Jersey was forced to land at Baltimore-Washington International Airport yesterday morning after airport officials said it violated the airspace of an undisclosed area. The pilot was taken into custody for Immigration and Naturalization Service violations, FBI officials said. FBI agents, who were on the scene when the plane landed, did not bring criminal charges against the pilot. FBI spokesman Peter A. Gulotta said the agency does not believe the incident was related to terrorist activity.

JERUSALEM - In a development that could heighten tensions between Israel and Iran, guerrillas of the Lebanon-based Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah succeeded, apparently for the first time, in penetrating Israeli airspace with an unmanned aerial drone. The Israeli military acknowledged the incursion in a terse statement and said the aircraft had been supplied by Iran. Hezbollah said in a statement released to news agencies in Beirut that the reconnaissance flight was "a natural response to the Zionist enemy's repeated and permanent violations of Lebanese airspace."

As soon as Ken Stinson saw the F-16 fighter jet flying alongside him on his final approach to Carroll County Regional Airport, he knew what he had done wrong. "It all really comes down to a student pilot who got lost and who happened to do it on the worst day of the year probably," the 43-year-old student pilot said yesterday - after being questioned for 3 1/2 hours by the Secret Service, the FBI, the FAA and local law enforcement at the Westminster state police barracks. "I went through P-40," the restricted airspace over the presidential retreat at Camp David, Stinson said, "and that's what happens when you go through P-40 these days."

The Pentagon has begun refining plans to use U.S. military power in the Balkans should the U.N. Security Council ask for allied help in enforcing the no-fly zone over Bosnia, according to U.S. officials.Plans call for initial monitoring and enforcement operations by F-14 Tomcat fighters and F-A-18 Hornet attack bombers from the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy, with help from AWACS radar surveillance planes. At the same time, the Navy is considering the use of specially rigged Tomahawk cruise missiles to cripple Serbian-held airports in the region, should the Security Council decide to take that step during its deliberations.

As soon as Ken Stinson saw the F-16 fighter jet flying alongside him on his final approach to Carroll County Regional Airport, he knew what he had done wrong. "It all really comes down to a student pilot who got lost and who happened to do it on the worst day of the year probably," the 43-year-old student pilot said yesterday -- after being questioned for 3 1/2 hours by the Secret Service, the FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration and local law enforcement at the Westminster state police barracks.

WASHINGTON -- With a holiday travel crush looming, President Bush announced yesterday that commercial jets will be allowed to fly in restricted East Coast military airspace during the busiest days around Thanksgiving and Christmas. The move will add two flight routes to the dozen or so along the Eastern seaboard and help get planes out of the crowded New York metropolitan area - the source of many of the nation's air traffic jams - more quickly, transportation officials said. While the restricted space is frequently available to commercial flights during bad weather, this marks the first time that authorities have cleared its use in advance.

A small plane was diverted to Annapolis after it entered restricted airspace in Washington Saturday, according to an air defense spokesman. Two U.S. Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopters diverted the civilian aircraft just before noon under the direction of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, said John Cornelio, a spokesman for NORAD. The plane had gone out of communication in the protected airspace, he said. Cornelio said the pilot would meet with local law enforcement.

Promising to redefine the airport experience for the flying public, Airspace Lounge is opening its doors in May at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Located at BWI's Concourse D, Airspace Lounge will provide customers a place to relax and work near their gate. For a day pass starting at $17.50 and topping out at $40 — the price rises as the lounge fills up — the facility will offer passengers with tickets on any airline the opportunity to enjoy a comfortable facility with complimentary food, coffee, soft drinks, wireless Internet, computers and access to a cash bar. Baltimore-based Airspace Lounge is led by Anthony Tangorra, a former airline transportation consultant who began his career at Continental Airlines.

A company planning to open dozens of passenger lounges at airports around the world will open its first facility, Airspace Lounge, in May at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. The lounge, to be located at BWI's concourse D, will offer passengers of any airline food, snacks, coffee, wireless Internet, on-site computers and access to a cash bar for a day pass starting at $17.50. The concourse currently serves AirTran, Cape Air, Continental, United and US Airways.

On-board systems intended to keep airliners from colliding in midair have been triggered more than 45 times this year in the skies over the Washington area as the air traffic controllers who guide planes to and from the region's airports have made dangerous mistakes at a record-setting pace. Two of the closest calls this month involved four airplanes carrying a total of 589 people, including one in which a Delta 737 was turned into the potentially deadly turbulent wake of a United 757 as the two planes flew along the Potomac on final approaches to Reagan National Airport.

WASHINGTON -- With a holiday travel crush looming, President Bush announced yesterday that commercial jets will be allowed to fly in restricted East Coast military airspace during the busiest days around Thanksgiving and Christmas. The move will add two flight routes to the dozen or so along the Eastern seaboard and help get planes out of the crowded New York metropolitan area - the source of many of the nation's air traffic jams - more quickly, transportation officials said. While the restricted space is frequently available to commercial flights during bad weather, this marks the first time that authorities have cleared its use in advance.

NEW YORK -- On any given day, a small swarm of day-trippers, paramedics, traffic reporters and downtown executives fly over the East River. A day after Yankee pitcher Cory Lidle's small aircraft slammed into an apartment building, several area politicians called for strict curbs on such flights, saying they offer terrorists easy access to the city's landmarks. Gov. George E. Pataki said the plane crash "brings into sharp focus the need to gain greater control of the airspace around New York."

MIAMI - Two Florida pilots who tow aerial signs may face criminal charges after being accused of violating restricted airspace in New York City near Rockaway Beach and the Marine Parkway Bridge and then buzzing a cruise ship in the harbor Thursday night while returning from a job in Cape Cod. Andre Morais, 28, of Tamarac, Fla., and Daniel Oliveira, 31, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., were chased and forced down by police helicopters in Monmouth County, N.J.,...

The pilots who strayed into restricted airspace not far from the White House on Wednesday, sending Washington into a panic, were not the first. The region's quirky airspace restrictions generated 700 citations last year for violations by wayward pilots - two-thirds of the violations written in the country. Fighter jets or other military aircraft are scrambled several times a week to escort wandering planes back to an appropriate route. Charles Abell, manager of Frederick Municipal Airport, where the Cessna was eventually forced to land by two fighter jets, said an airplane is intercepted and diverted to his airport about every six to eight weeks.

WASHINGTON - The sound is jarring and unmistakable, an electronic trill that pilots of the 121st Fighter Squadron recognize in a quickened heartbeat. Nearly every day, the warbling alarm reverberates through bunks and hangars in a remote corner of Andrews Air Force Base, signaling trouble in the sky above the nation's capital. In seconds, the airstrip tenses with choreographed vigilance. Inside a trailer at the runway's edge, pilots wrestle into their flight suits. Mechanics dash into the hangars to inspect the fully armed F-16 fighters before firing up their deafening engines.

The Carroll County Regional Airport, which is on the verge of a $60 million expansion, has been chosen as the 2005 Airport of the Year by the Maryland Aviation Administration. The award, which recognizes excellence in operations and service, comes as county officials are considering a proposal that would double the airport's capacity, opening the facility to more and larger aircraft and generating jobs in the region. "Of the 35 airports under MAA's jurisdiction, ours was selected for this award," said Gary Horst, who supervises the airport as administrator of the county's Office of Performance Auditing and Special Projects.