01/08/02 - A letter from Shane Rosanova
Protect our freedom of flight
Hi Everyone, 
I need your help.  With the deranged kid's decision to crash the plane into the building in Tampa there is now talk about placing even more restrictions on General Aviation and pilots. As a whole, flying and aviation is the most regulated activity on the planet next to, maybe, nuclear power. It is unfortunate that the vast majority of pilots are very conservative,  conscientious and cautious and we have to counteract the knee-jerk reaction of the public and government when the occasional delusional person decides to make a statement. Sadly the knee-jerk is happening again.

Beyond those families that lost loved ones in the 9/11 tragedy I would wager that those of in aviation felt the pain of that loss more than most because the terrorists used the modern wonder of flight we love to kill innocent people. Following that event we all lost our cherished freedom of flight for several weeks. Some in the aviation community still have not been allowed back in the air in cities close to NY and D.C. No one on the ground had the government repeal any of their freedoms in the wake of 9/11. Think of an activity you cherish and think about how you would feel if the government 
took it away because some cowards tarnished it with unfeeling acts of terror.  I can tell you it doesn't feel good at all and taking our flight freedoms just added insult to the pain and grief we were already feeling. 

Little airplanes are not weapons of mass destruction. As pilots we all monitor each other to make sure we and aviation stays safe. It is only natural to protect what we love. Still, we can't see into the minds of those around us. None of us can. If we could disasters like 9/11, Columbine, Oklahoma City and terrorist acts in general could be prevented. In our grief 
we all want something to blame and aviation is the current, popular target. Please help us stop the proliferation of that unfair attitude. 

The bottom line is new legislation, laws and restrictions will not prevent the occasional deranged anomaly from trying to hurt or kill themselves, whether it be on a bike, in a boat, driving a car, jumping from a building or crashing an airplane. Even the kid who killed himself in the plane in Tampa gave no clues to his parents that he was suicidal. How would a law, more locks, higher fences, etc., at the airport have prevented that? They couldn't, can't and won't. We all need to be more vigilant and more situationally aware to spot potential risky behavior in those around us.  Laws can't do that. People can. That is a responsibility we all must accept in order to make our world safer.

Please take a minute to call your local legislators and tell them that new laws won't help prevent acts like this. Right now our freedom of flight is under attack. Next week it might be something that is important to you like limiting where you want to drive or travel or who you are allowed to communicate with. Stop the knee-jerk reactions that further harm us all. Start a real dialog with your government so they know we are expecting them to be reasonable and intelligent. Start by voting against further unneeded restrictions on the CNN on-line poll shown below. Stand tall together to 
protect our freedoms from the cowards, indecents, and delusional in our world that would take them away from us with an unthinking act.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Shane Rosanova
A pilot who loves the freedom of flight

The CNN home page (http://www.cnn.com) currently has a "quick vote" box at the bottom right of the page, asking: "In light of a plane crash into a Tampa skyscraper, should there be more restrictions on access to planes?". The vote is currently running 2-1 in favor of restrictions. Let's get some intelligent votes out there, take a few seconds to vote.