You actually want us to enforce our rules?

One hole in the FANs system appeared in May, when a 69-year old pilot caused near-chaos in Washington by penetrating the restricted air space around the nation's Capitol. The pilot took off from the small airport in Smoketown, Pa., without checking weather reports and without reading the FAA's "Notice to Airmen" which pilots are supposed to read before taking off and which would have told him about the restrictions. He then proceeded to get completely lost, penetrating three layers of restricted airspace--"we have a system of systems"--becoming confused and falling to respond to several warnings by pursuit planes before finally answering.

Why was this pilot flying? He was supposed to have his piloting skills reappraised every two years and have frequent physicals. But what the system fails to provide is a check to see that he actually does what he is supposed to do. No one knows unless he happens to be seen doing something wrong. Then, he may be reported to the FAA. It is also possible that he could have been spotted by one of the very occasional "ramp checks" that FAA conducts to check pilot credentials. There does not, however, appear to have been a ramp check in Smoketown.

Did you see the story in June about the drunk who stole a plane from the Westchester County Airport and flew it away? He could have been a terrorist--as could the pilot from Smoketown.