U.S. resumes anti-drug shoot-down program

The U.S. government has reinstated the “airbridge denial program,” or anti-drug interdiction efforts, with Colombia. This program, which allows the use of deadly force against civilian aircraft if they are known or suspected to be smuggling drugs, is the first of the airbridge programs to resume after the fatal shooting down of a missionary Cessna 185 floatplane in Peru in 2001. AOPA reiterated its opposition, saying. “The risks of shooting down an innocent aircraft far outweigh the satisfaction of downing a drug smuggler.”