Our incident in Santa Barbara certainly could have ended with a tragic headline. Instead, it has turned into a real opportunity to positively impact General Aviation. We’ll be following up with details on a recent meeting we had with the Santa Barbara mayor, police chief, airport director and other officials and suggested changes to reduce misunderstanding between GA pilots and law enforcement in the future.
You can help! We’ve created the following checklist: Aircraft Interception On An Airport. It gives Law Enforcement Officers tools to better prepare for dealing with pilots and aircraft and alternatives for more effective and safer interceptions. Pass a copy along to your local law enforcement officials and to your local airport authorities. And forward it to fellow pilots so they can deliver it to their local authorities also.
Thank you for producing a positive, helpful outcome from your incident. It will do more to improve the situation in the future than all the Internet vitriol calling police everything from just plain stupid to knuckledragging, jackbooted nazis. I am forwarding this to my entire mail list (which includes two police chiefs), Thanks – you now have another admirer.
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