Found this at a user group. Fairly concise summation. Don't want to sound like Chicken Little but the ONLY way to short circuit this is to participate in the comments process, raise hell with your representatives or call in a favor if you are a big campaign contributor.
Gentlemen:
I don’t know if you are aware of the Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has posted in the Federal Register – it is called the Large Aircraft Security Program (LASP). This rule will significantly affect ALL business and corporate aviation operators operating airplanes that weigh more than 12,500 lbs.
Is this only the beginning? Probably. My guess is that ALL airplanes (King Airs, Cheyennes, and even small Cessnas) will be next.
The LASP will significantly restrict the utility of your airplane. Below are some issues of which you should be aware.
This rule will:
1) Restrict items that you will be allowed to take on board your OWN airplane
a. i.e,: No firearms (Hunting trips?), No liquids over 3 ounces (Do you carry toothpaste or shampoo or wine on board?), No knives (Do you carry a survival kit? Do you ever enjoy meal catering that needs forks and knives? Carry a pocket knife?), Many tools will be restricted (Do employees take tools to any of your construction or work sites?).
2) You and your passengers will need to be screened prior to each and every flight to make sure that none of you are terrorists.
a. You will not be able to vet any of these people yourself, and this includes you, your wife, your children, your parents, any guests you invite, your employees, your customers, etc.
3) You will need to ask for permission from the Federal Government (DHS) prior to each and every flight.
a. They have no time limit on when (after you request permission) you might receive such permission.
i. You will quite possibly face significant delays while the government gets around to granting you permission to fly.
4) You will sometimes need to make room for a DHS Air Marshal if they decide that, for this flight, they might want to send one along.
a. No room? Too bad, you will need to bump one of your passengers.
b. And, oh, by the way, guess who gets to pay for the Air Marshal, and his expenses associated with the trip? You.
5) Your pilots will need to submit to criminal background checks including fingerprinting.
a. If you are a pilot, you will need to submit to this.
b. Guess who will have to make sure that has been done - you.
c. There will, of course, be significant fines if you don’t make sure this is done.
6) You will have to appoint a Director of Security and this lucky person will have to create a security manual and this manual will need to be approved by the DHS.
a. Guess who gets to pay for that? You.
7) You could be forced to submit to a third party, DHS-approved audit of your airplane operation on a semi-annual basis
a. Guess who gets to pay for that audit? You.
And, yes, there is way more to this than listed above.
Please send this email to as many private airplane operators or owners as you can. The time to mobilize against this ridiculousness is now, as the comment period, as specified in the NPRM, closes 27 Feb 2009.
For more information, please follow the following link:
http://www.nbaa.org/ops/security/programs/lasp/
