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To view this page ensure that Adobe Flash Player version 9.0.124 or greater is installed. Recent high-profile thefts of GA aircraft in 2005 have also raised security concerns because they point to vulnerabilities in GA operations that could be exploited by terrorists. For example, in an incident that occurred on June 22, 2005, a 20-year old Connecticut man allegedly stole an aircraft from a Danbury, Connecticut flight school and took two teenage accomplices on a late-night “drunken, three-hour joyride” before landing on a taxiway at the Westchester County, New York airport.26 More recently, on October 9, 2005, a 22-year old Georgia man allegedly stole a Cessna Citation VII business jet from the St. Augustine, Florida airport and took friends – reportedly unaware that the airplane had been stolen – on 23 Hugh Williamson. “Ban on Small Aircraft Flying Over Berlin.” Financial Times (London), July 25, 2005. 24 The White House Office of the Press Secretary. Press Briefing by Ron Noble, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Enforcement and Carl Meyer, Special Agent, United States Secret Service. September 12, 1994. Robert Pear. “Crash at the White House: The Pilot.” The New York Times, September 13, 1994, p. 20. 25 CRS analysis of NTSB Aviation Accident Database and Synopses from 1962-2004 (available at [http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/query.asp]). 26 Richard Liebson. “1 Held in Drunken Joy Ride in Cessna.” The Journal News (White Plains, NY), June 23, 2005, p. 1A. a late-night joyride of more than 300 miles, landing at Gwinnett County (Georgia) -Briscoe Field airport near Atlanta.27 While thefts of jets are extremely rare, in another incident that occurred on December 15, 1997, an individual with falsified FAA credentials stole a Lear Jet from the Fort Lauderdale Executive airport in Florida and piloted the airplane to Nicaragua to use the plane for charter flight operations.28 Like suspected suicides using aircraft, thefts of small GA aircraft are relatively rare and thefts of jet aircraft are virtually unheard of. The AOPA notes that, historically, only about a dozen GA aircraft are stolen each year and recent trends suggest that owners and operators of these airplanes are taking steps to reduce their vulnerability to theft.29 Specifically, the AOPA cites statistics from the Aviation Crime Prevention Institute, Inc. indicating that while 13 GA aircraft were stolen in 2002, only 6 (5 light single-engine aircraft and one medium-sized twin-engine aircraft) were stolen in 2003.30 Arguably, these statistics do not indicate that GA aircraft are not vulnerable to theft, but rather may simply suggest that existing vulnerabilities in GA security are rarely exploited. While airplane thefts may be rare, high-profile thefts, like the cases cited above, provide some evidence that individuals with knowledge of GA airports and aircraft could exploit existing security vulnerabilities and access aircraft relatively easily. 中国通航网 www.ga.cn 通航翻译 www.aviation.cn 本文链接地址：Securing General Aviation 通用航空安保(15) |
