Pilots, air carriers and other players in Alaska aviation are gathering Monday afternoon at Stevens Anchorage International Airport to learn more about expected flight restrictions when President Obama visits Alaska next week.
Stress levels are high for small flying services that don’t yet know when or for how long they will be grounded during one of their busiest times. "Seaplane" flights in particular have been signaled out as prohibited, although the Federal Aviation Administration hasn’t specified where or for how long.
“The flight plane advisory specifically lists seaplanes on the same list of nuisances to aviation that are strictly forbidden,” said Mike Laughlin, owner of Regal Air, a flight service based at Lake Hood. “Which is just absurd in the state of Alaska.”
The Transportation Security Administration says logistics including the meeting are being overseen by the Secret Service, which isn’t saying much.
“We’re definitely trying to get ahead of this a little bit,” said Jane Dale, executive director of the Alaska Air Carriers Association. “The U.S. Secret Service is keeping many of the details very close.”
An FAA advisory released Friday warned that temporary flight restrictions may be significant during Obama’s visit. He will land in Air Force One at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on Aug.31, travel to Seward on Sept. 1, then fly to both Dillingham and Kotzebue on Sept. 2 before leaving Alaska.
Pilots who violate the rules face deadly force, the FAA said.
Details on how long air space will be restricted in various locations have not yet been released.
Asked when the public would learn details of the temporary flight restrictions, FAA public affairs manager Ian Gregor answered “I don’t know. Have you reached out to the USSS?”
That’s the Secret Service. Robert Hoback, a Secret Service spokesman in Washington, D.C., said the agency expects to release some information in response to questions Tuesday or Wednesday. He said he didn't know when the FAA flight restrictions would be announced.
Air carriers have been told that the security restrictions may be similar to those that governed flight around Martha’s Vineyard, Dale said. President Obama and his family just wrapped up a 16-day vacation there. They left Sunday on Marine One, the presidential helicopter.
Flights related to the president, air ambulance traffic and scheduled commercial passenger and cargo flights were allowed under FAA flight restrictions.
But other aircraft within a 10-mile radius around Martha’s Vineyard had to be screened at nearby “gateway airports” or the Martha’s Vineyard airport, under the temporary flight restrictions. Screenings were available daily from 6 a.m. to 7:59 p.m.
“Gateway screening will include ID verification and vetting of all pilots, crew and passengers, screening of persons and baggage, and inspection of the aircraft,” the rules for Martha’s Vineyard said.
Seaplanes -- the term used by the FAA -- were grounded there. They also were on the advisory sent out last week for Alaska as an example of the kind of aircraft that could be prohibited in nearby airspace.
That is one of the biggest concerns for the air carriers organization, which includes 200 companies, Dale said.
Carriers hope to learn more today.
“It is probably related more to a Lower 48 standard,” Dale said.
Perhaps seaplanes were included on the advisory for Alaska by mistake, she said.
“I think we’re going to lose a lot of business over it, if it really is as restrictive as they say it’s going to be,” Laughlin of Regal Air said.
Some clients are already in the field and may not know what is happening if their pickup plane doesn’t come on schedule, he said.
“Maybe they are going to run out of food. Maybe they’ve got flights to catch,” he said.
It’s an especially busy time.
“It’s everything,” Laughlin said. “It’s moose hunting, duck hunting, sheep hunting. We’ve still got a lot of tourists in town that are going on flight seeing tours.”
A Holland America cruise ship, for instance, is scheduled to dock in Anchorage in Monday, he said.
None of the agencies -- not the Secret Service, nor TSA nor FAA -- were able to answer why seaplanes were in a different category than other small planes.
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FAA warns pilots of security restrictions during Obama's visit to Alaska
President Barack Obama’s trip to Alaska later this month will impact air traffic – right at the start of fall duck and moose hunting seasons – but just how much is not yet known.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued an advisory Friday related to a “VIP Visit” in Alaska. The agency warns it will be issuing “multiple Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR) in support of a VIP visit to Anchorage, Seward, Dillingham and Kotzebue” starting Aug. 31 and running through Sept. 2.
The VIP is unnamed, but that is how FAA security measures refer to the president. The dates match with when Alaska officials expect Obama to be in the state.
Some hunters are adjusting their schedules just in case, to make sure they are not grounded. In Southcentral, fall waterfowl season starts Sept. 1. Moose seasons generally start between Aug. 25 and Sept. 1, depending on the hunting area, according to Ken Marsh, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
Exact locations and times for flight restrictions have not been determined but will be published soon in notices to airmen, or NOTAMs, according to the FAA.
Scheduled commercial passenger and cargo flights typically are allowed, the FAA said. But smaller planes face restrictions and floatplanes in particular may be grounded for at least some of that time, according to the advisory.
John Parrott, manager of Stevens Anchorage International Airport, said he expects some limits on Lake Hood – often described as the world’s busiest floatplane base -- as well as Merrill Field, Birchwood Airport and other airfields in the area.
“But I don’t have a good feel for what those constraints will be,” Parrott said. “I don’t know if there will be certain times they can’t fly or certain directions they can’t fly or if there will be someone monitoring the activity and checking who’s flying. I simply don’t have an answer for that yet.”
The FAA classifies the sensitive airspace around the president as “National Defense Airspace” and warns that violations will be dealt with seriously.
Pilots could face fines, criminal charges – or worse.
“The United States Government may use deadly force against the airborne aircraft, if it is determined that the aircraft poses an imminent security threat,” the advisory said.
President Obama is coming to Alaska for a visit focused on climate change. If the trip goes as planned, he will land Aug. 31 on Air Force One at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. The White House has said the president will give a speech that day to an Anchorage conference on the Arctic organized by the State Department but has not announced other details of his schedule. Advance teams have been scouting in Dillingham, Kotzebue and Seward.
While specifics for Alaska are not yet announced, typically there’s an inner 10-mile zone with the most restrictive measures, then an outer ring affecting aircraft 10 miles to 30 miles out, the FAA said.
Generally, within the inner core of 10 miles, the only flights allowed are by law enforcement, air ambulances, military aircraft supporting the Secret Service and regularly scheduled commercial passenger and cargo carriers, the FAA said.
In the outer ring, planes generally must be on active flight plans with an assigned, discrete code that they squawk while in the restricted area. They must be in constant radio communications with air traffic control, the FAA said.
But floatplanes, along with drones, ultralights and model rockets, among others, generally are grounded during restricted times, the FAA said.
Whether that will happen for minutes, hours or days isn’t yet specified.
Parrott said he hopes pilots, regulators and the president’s security detail figure out an acceptable resolution that doesn’t overly restrict flights by small planes.
“No general aviation within 30 miles of JBER for three days at the beginning of moose and duck season is not going to be a pleasant time,” Parrott said.
Just in case, Marsh, of Fish and Game, said he rescheduled his own fall bird hunt to avoid being grounded.
“The no-fly zones will definitely seem to affect hunters who have planned to fly from the Anchorage area between Aug. 31 and Sept. 2,” he said in an email. He had seen the FAA advisory.
He and a friend are flying out of Lake Hood Aug. 30, two days earlier than planned, for a hunt on the Susitna Flats across Cook Inlet.
“Luckily, we have a nice cabin to stay in, so the extra time should be pretty pleasurable,” he said.
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