Please don't Keep us Grounded
In the face of this despicable act of terrorism, we
must keep our national dignity and preserve our basic freedoms. We must hold
our chins up, dust ourselves off and courageously keep on going. We assign
terrorism greater stature in the eyes of the world if we dignify and magnify it
in the course of our reactions. Unrealistic restrictions on airspace, such as
the continued and now seemingly arbitrary --and yes it does look arbitrary when
a crop-duster with its potential and payload is allowed to fly, but a
fifty-five year-old woman can't fly a C152 with her flight instructor!
Continued grounding of VFR GA private aircraft now make this country look
overly fearful and reactionary. Even a week of cancelled flight lessons and
private flight for Americans has hurt, but initially it was understandable. But
now a period longer than a week will surely have lasting and unnecessary impact
and consequences. Student and VFR private pilots are a wellspring of future
strength for American aviation. Private pilots contribute to the economic
vitality, readiness, and security of our great and proud nation in ways that
must be measured with deeper values than just dollars and cents.
Flying is still a noble pursuit. There are virtues and national
character-building aspects that we cannot put just a simple price tag on. We
can't let these terrorists take the basic virtues of flying away from us! Are
we going to let these terrorists TAKE AWAY our FREEDOM TO FLY AS STUDENT AND
PRIVATE PILOTS? Did we ground or halt private trucks when a truck was used in
an act of terrorism? I don't mind extra measures or reasonable restrictions
such as VFR codes or flight plans, but being grounded altogether is no longer
reasonable. With this letter, I make a call for common sense. Louise
Parsons