Criminal penalties for TFR busts?

TurdBird

TurdBird

Well-Known Member
Came across this on the AOPA website-

Criminal penalties for TFR busts?
By Alyssa J. Miller

Any rogue pilot who repeatedly violates temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) could threaten hundreds of thousands of law-abiding pilots who might inadvertently fly into a TFR. But AOPA is working to protect pilots who fly by the rules.

The FAA has added new language to its TFR notams, telling pilots that they could face criminal penalties for violating the airspace: "Any person who knowingly or willfully violates the rules concerning operations in this airspace is subject to certain criminal penalties under 49 USC 46307."

The FAA has always had the ability to assess these types of charges, but it has never stated it so bluntly.

AOPA President Phil Boyer wrote the FAA on Oct. 12 to ensure that pilots who inadvertently violate TFRs won't be subject to criminal charges or hefty civil penalties.

"Security-related flight restrictions can occur virtually anywhere in the country with little advance notice. It is not uncommon that the average pilot has to pick through pages and pages of irrelevant and unrelated notams to find these important airspace restrictions," Boyer wrote to acting FAA Administrator Bobby Sturgell.

AOPA has done its part in providing members with advance notice via e-mail messages, graphical depictions of the TFRs, and real-time updates on AOPA Online. AOPA's e-mail notifications have proven to be a valuable resource to pilots who are truly trying to fly by the rules in today's complex airspace.

"We work to prevent unnecessary TFRs. The ones that are in place are intended to protect national security," Boyer said. "We must do our part to abide by these rules—no excuses, no exceptions."
October 16, 2007
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"Any person who knowingly or willfully violates the rules concerning operations in this airspace is subject to certain criminal penalties under 49 USC 46307."
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What if neither of those occur? Say I didn't know there was a TFR, or I didn't want to fly into it? But then those probably mean, we'll get you anyways, son.
 
I don't know if this is anything different than what was originally intended when they started using TFRs more often. It seems like it just took a while for them to get the verbage straight. Wouldn't it be bad to knowingly and willfully violate one in the first place?
 
I suppose they could bust you for anything you do in violation of the regs and charge you with a federal crime, but does it really make any sense to nail someone who accidentally strays into the expanded TFR over Bush's ranch if el Presidente decided to stay longer than the NOTAM said he'd be there for?
 
Swen said:
What if neither of those occur? Say I didn't know there was a TFR, or I didn't want to fly into it? But then those probably mean, we'll get you anyways, son.
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If you gave a strong anti-Bush speech where you threatened to kill him or something, and then the next day you were caught breaking a TFR in a bomb filled C-152, they could probably induce you willingly broke the TFR. Otherwise, you could easily get by with saying you just didn't know, and get off with just a insufficient preflight planning violation.
 
tonyw said:
I suppose they could bust you for anything you do in violation of the regs and charge you with a federal crime, but does it really make any sense to nail someone who accidentally strays into the expanded TFR over Bush's ranch if el Presidente decided to stay longer than the NOTAM said he'd be there for?
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I can only speculate that perhaps there might be one or two individuals who actually willfully or knowingly violated TFR airspace and tried to rationalize the act with some reason they felt themselves justified the flight.
 
falconvalley said:
I don't know if this is anything different than what was originally intended when they started using TFRs more often. It seems like it just took a while for them to get the verbage straight. Wouldn't it be bad to knowingly and willfully violate one in the first place?
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The difference is that, to most pilots I know, there is a bit of a difference between having pilot privileges suspended for 60 days and a year in a federal prison with a permanent criminal record.

Yes, the ability to do this has always been there but it hasn't been enforced. The new warning may well be a signal to a new enforcement attitude.

"Willfully" may be a big deal, but "knowingly" doesn't take much more than that the information was there and readily available and you violated it.
 
butt said:
If you gave a strong anti-Bush speech where you threatened to kill him or something, and then the next day you were caught breaking a TFR in a bomb filled C-152,
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Oh, come on. How big a bomb could it be? This is a 152 we're talking about.
 
Umm, maybe a stupid question, but how hard is it to know about TFRs these days? I remember a pre-internet time when you really had to be careful about getting that info during your pre-flight. Now the easiest way is to look at the map provided by AOPA and cross check its currency with the FAA's NOTAMs. Granted, if you're still relying on a phone briefing alone, you're in the same boat as the old days. The information is out there; if you choose not to seek it, you're on your own.
 
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