Comments Due Tomorrow on D.C. Flight Restrictions

Thanks primarily to a campaign by AOPA, the FAA has received more than 16,000 comments, the vast majority mostly negative, to the agency's proposal to make permanent the temporary flight restrictions in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Comments on the proposal are due tomorrow. The restrictions and the current air defense identification zone (ADIZ) would be known as the National Defense Airspace, if the FAA has its way. The Washington ADIZ and another over New York City were established in February 2002, ostensibly as temporary measures, and the New York City ADIZ has since been eliminated. AOPA said it "recognizes the necessity to protect the national assets in the nation's capital and the 15-nautical-mile-radius no-fly area known as the flight-restricted zone (FRZ) does that," said AOPA president Phil Boyer. The FAA said it expects to issue a final rule in March.