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To view this page ensure that Adobe Flash Player version 9.0.124 or greater is installed. Airport Watch Program. To enhance surveillance at airports, the TSA, in cooperation with the AOPA and the National Response Center, launched an airport watch program at GA airports in December, 2002.54 The airport watch program is similar to a neighborhood watch program and relies on the cooperation and participation of pilots, airport tenants, and airport workers to observe and report suspicious activity. Educational and training materials have been made available to these individuals to increase their awareness regarding potentially suspicious activity, and a hotline – 1-866-GA-SECURE – has been set up to log reports of suspicious activity. Under the program, instructional materials advise observers to call local law enforcement using 911 if they believe the situation potentially poses an immediate threat. The AOPA has provided funding and resources since the program’s inception to provide educational and informational materials for pilots and for signage – similar to neighborhood watch signs – at airports. According to the AOPA, the organization has spent more than $1 million from its own funds developing, promoting, and providing support for the Airport Watch Program.55 Congress has supported the Airport Watch program in appropriations language, and the FY2006 Department of Homeland Security Act (P.L. 109-90; H.Rept. 109-241 and H.Rept. 109-79) provides an additional $275,000 for additional promotion of the program. Since its inception, the Airport Watch program has been credited with alerting authorities to suspicious activities at GA airports on several occasions. For example, the AOPA cited one peculiar incident as a demonstration of the effectiveness of the airport watch concept. In August 2004, two men of “Middle Eastern appearance” presented themselves at an airport near St. Louis offering cash to charter a helicopter and presenting driver’s licenses from two different states as identification. The charter operator also noted that the men were driving a vehicle registered in a third state and observed the men removing “odd shaped luggage” from that vehicle in preparation for the flight. Based on these observations, the charter operator stalled the suspicious individuals and notified the FBI and local law enforcement who responded and arrested the two individuals. The suspicious characters turned out to be reporters on assignment to demonstrate how easily terrorists could hijack a 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(30) |
