Four-Eight-Four [dot org]

What a surprise, eh? Hot air? From some nitwit in the Senate? Yes, I know, it’s not really big news.

Well, it certainly didn’t take long for all sorts of knee-jerk, hysterical reactions from clueless folk nationwide to show up in the national media after the tragic death of Cory Lidle and his instructor a few days ago. I’m talking here about the kind of people who have neither heard nor understand the old adage that “it is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.”

Quite predictably, there are all kinds of calls from all quarters (except those populated by the sane) to be banned from flying around NYC (or cities in general), and/or to be under the constant supervision of a flight controller … all generally linked with the ability of some terrorist to pack something nasty into his plane and fly it into a building or unleash biological terror upon millions of unsuspecting citizens.

Because, hey, ya know, a terrorist would never be able do something like that if they were in contact with some dude in a control tower. Not to mention there is NO WAY that kind of person would ever sever contact with the flight controller and then do his own thing, like, say flying a large plane full of people into a large building. And, even if there was a remote possibility that something like that would happen, surely the terrorist would think twice when he realized he’d have to enter restricted airspace to fly his plane into a skyscraper. Nice, law-abiding folks who respect our people and nation, that’s what these terrorists are.

Here’s a fine example of the smelly stuff floating downwind from DC, from a CNN article:

“A smart terrorist could load up a small, little plane with biological, chemical or even nuclear material and fly up the Hudson or East rivers, no questions asked,” said [Sen. Charles] Schumer, D-New York. “I hope this will be a wake-up call to the FAA to re-examine flight patterns, which, amazingly enough, they haven’t done since 9/11.”

Oh really? Apparently Sen. Shumer has no clue how the cargo capacity of most small planes compares to something like, say, a minivan. Heck, just for the sake of argument, let’s say the average sized truck you can pick up from your local U-Haul. Now, let’s have some fun with that statement.

“A smart terrorist could load up a small, little panel truck with biological, chemical or even nuclear material and drive right across the George Washington bridge, no questions asked,” said Schumer, D-New York. “I hope this will be a wake-up call to the NTSB to re-examine traffic patterns, which, amazingly enough, they haven’t done since 9/11.”

Yeah. I don’t see anybody calling for minivan or truck drivers to be under the supervision of “ground control.” Really now, do you think it’s any easier to get a biological weapon into the middle of NYC in a panel truck, or a plane? It’s going to certainly slower to get your weapon to its destination given the clogged nature of the streets in NYC, but the larger payload would make it worth the trouble, not to mention that blowing something up at ground level is gonna probably kill far more people than flying a Cessna into a skyscraper.

Seriously, there are more effective ways to deliver explosives (and more of them) than using your average four-passenger light plane. Does that mean it will never happen? No, it could. Terrorists, by their very nature, use unorthodox methods to cause trouble, but some of them (the guys who don’t strap a bomb onto themselves and blow it up) are bright enough to realize that causing more damage is generally more important for their cause than doing something unique.

The fact of the matter is if we try to regulate out of existence every single activity that has a statistically small chance of being used against us in terrorist activity, we’re going to end up spending the rest of our lives in bomb shelters. Life is risky, with or without terrorists. Either we come to terms with the risk and live life, or we fear the risk and don’t really live at all. Every time I get in my car and head east on I-40 to Raleigh, NC to see my friends and family, I risk being killed in an accident. But, if I didn’t take that risk, I would never visit my friends and family at home again.

Now, I’m not saying that this accident doesn’t raise questions that should be studied and answered. Perhaps it is time to review whether or not it’s a good idea to let planes fly around NYC, given the restrictions that are put in place. Perhaps the restrictions are too strict, and were part of the cause of this accident. Or, perhaps it’s just an accident that would have happened, restrictions or no restrictions. It doesn’t hurt to examine the situation and rationally suggest ways to prevent similar accidents in the future … but this business of looking at things and wondering what might happen if some dude from Iraq with a vendetta were involved and packing explosives or anthrax … this will only lead to drastic, foolish decisions that won’t help anybody.

So, rather than listening to the busybodies like Sen. Schumer, who seems to have arrived at the station several decades after the clue train departed, let’s pay attention to somebody like Michael Bloomberg, who at least seems to have some inkling of what he’s talking about:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a recreational pilot with decades of experience, said he believes the skies are safe under the current rules. “We have very few accidents for an awful lot of traffic,” he said. “Every time you have an automobile accident, you’re not going to go and close the streets or prohibit people from driving.”

That’s more like it.