What a crock of $#*!

pilot602

If specified, this will replace the title that
Washington trains for terror flights

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two C-172 Cessna Skyhawk aircraft will conduct low-level flights over Washington Thursday evening, simulating a terrorist attack against the metropolitan area as part of a series of air defense exercises being conducted by the U.S. military.

The exercise, called "Falcon Virgo," will involve small airplanes conducting low-level flights over the capitol area.

Two Air Force F-16s will be conducting routine combat air patrols at the time and could be ordered to chase the small planes.

There will be a computerized simulation with other air defense units testing the ability to quickly identify hostile targets and force them to land, in coordination with commercial air space authorities.

Exercises involving F-16s operating over the D.C. metro area last month prompted numerous phone calls to media outlets from residents frightened by the noise of the low-flying jets. Thursday night's exercise, postponed from Wednesday, is expected to run from 6 p.m. to midnight ET.

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Better hope they aren't using SPs or Rs cause those new 'Hawks might outrun those old F-16s.

It also amazes me that even though all the attacks were carried out via commercial aircraft the government continues to portray GA aircraft as a ligitimate and serious threat. Did the kid in FL prove nothing?

I guess the goal is to force the 172s to land at a commercial airport where the pilots will then be harassed to death by the TSA.
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Ooooooooo.. let us not forget about all the agricultural 172's out there, just waiting to hose down the unsuspecting populace with germs! Scary!!
God I hate stupid people
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I dont know anything about it but could they be using a C152 sine it is small? Harder to see/intercept maybe? Didn't someone fly a Cessna into Red Square once?
 
Hey guys, the C-172s are probably being used because they're easy and they are good duplicates of a low level, slow flying target. NOT because they are exactly the plane that terrorists would use... they're just a proxy for the training exercise. Chill, they're not dissing GA just by using 172s in an exercise. It's just part of a bigger picture.
 
Yeah, but will that be the public perception of it? Probably not. The media has still never really understood aviation.
 
--Didn't someone fly a Cessna into Red Square once?

Matthias Rust, a German, landed a Cessna in Red Square during the 80's. It's a feat I have been unable to duplicate without crashing on FS2000......
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Whats Red Square?

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Downtown Moscow - a guy landed a 172 in the square back in the mid-late '80s.

But seriously, what the hell is a 2,400 lbs. 172 gonna do that a 16,000 lbs. Ryder truck can't do 8 times over far more easily and with far less operator training?

That's my beef. We didn't go around shutting down the highway system after the Oklahoma City Bombing and conducting "low speed crusing of Ryder trucks."

We live in a free society - we will never be 100% safe or secure. Plain and simple.
 
Wasn't there a guy during the Clinton Administration that crashed a 152 or 150 into the White House? I think the guy died, but the plane did very little damage to the White House.
 
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Wasn't there a guy during the Clinton Administration that crashed a 152 or 150 into the White House? I think the guy died, but the plane did very little damage to the White House.

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here we go again, back to bill clinton. sheesh
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Yes, maybe they are using a 172 just because they are small and lots of them are around.

However, after this exercise, if anyone sees a little high wing plane near a city, they are going to start freaking out.

Dont they ususally send helicopters after GA aircraft?
 
I would think a 172 would be perfect...No one is expecting a 172 to do much...but a 172 loaded with the right explosives, or chemicals.....these people will hit us with ideas we would least suspect.
 
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I would think a 172 would be perfect...No one is expecting a 172 to do much...but a 172 loaded with the right explosives, or chemicals.....these people will hit us with ideas we would least suspect.

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So would a pickup truck loaded full of the right stuff, same with a car or moving vans. They are reaching pretty far with this. What a waste of money.
 
Hello Ready,

Well, a 172 can drop NBC weapons & parachutists! I'm pretty sure that a 172 in a power dive could take out any armored limousine as well, though I'm sure they all look the same from the air. Also, don't forget about keeping the airspace around Marine 1 (Presidential Helicopter) clear and safe. All you have to do is clip the main rotor with something and there's a 90%+ chance it's going down HARD! And a 172 or any other light GA aircraft can be used as a distraction to lure us away from the main event.

Just my opinion,

JR

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Yeah, it sucks that GA's reputation might be even further injured by this training but I have to agree with MarineNav on this one. There are thousands of possibilities for attacks and we have to train for anything, sometimes the smallest things can be major threats if they are used in the correct manner. I just wish I was in DC to see all this
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Everytime I go there I love watching the gov choppers doing the low level patterns. I've actually been lucky enough to see Cheney board Marine One (or whatever it is called when he is on board) at the base of the Washington Monument. I've also seen it land at the White House. We are a very open society and we need to train for any possible threats. It doesn't bother me one bit that they are doing more training to protect D.C. and our nation as a whole. I guess the best way to help GA's image is to educate those around you, maybe even take them flying and support organizations like AOPA.
 
It's an easy target to catch, the scramble will be successful and the news media is going to give a glowing, gleeful story about our anti-terrorist prowess on the evening news.

Pure •e.

Perhaps it's another idea from our biggest homeland security contractor, "Accenture" which is nothing more than Arthur Andersen Consulting which was moved offshore to Aruba to avoid tax ramifications and changed it's name to avoid negative connotations from the federal government giving tax dollars offshore to a corporation that damned near caused another great depression.

Don't get me started!

Dont EVEN get me started.
 
The two C-172s involved are Civil Air Patrol aircraft.

Of course, what they should REALLY do is fill a C-172 with explosives just to show the world that it couldn't get off the ground so loaded. Then fill one with the amount of explosives it COULD carry and stay below max takeoff weight, rig it with radio controls, and fly it into a building slated for demolition to demonstrate that a light aircraft with such a piddly amount of explosives wouldn't do dick.

Of course, we've already seen what a Uhaul truck loaded with gas and fertilizer can do, though I can't recall reading about any no-drive zones for Uhaul trucks.
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Of course, what they should REALLY do is fill a C-172 with explosives just to show the world that it couldn't get off the ground so loaded.

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HA!


I would love to see if they could find me, low fast and no electronics on.
 
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