http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050721/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/restricted_airspaceWASHINGTON - Pilots flew into restricted airspace 3,400 times across the country in the three years following the Sept. 11 attacks, according to a congressional report that says the government needs to better coordinate its response to such violations.
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One agency should be in charge of steering planes away from restricted zones, according to the Government Accountability Office report, obtained by The Associated Press ahead of Thursday's hearing on the subject by the House Government Reform Committee.
Committee Chairman Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican, said it's essential for agencies that oversee the skies to work together.
"A quick, coordinated response is absolutely vital if we are faced with a pilot or a plane with hostile intent," Davis said in a statement.
The Federal Aviation Administration, the North American Aerospace Defence Command and the Transportation Security Administration are responsible for making sure pilots don't fly where they shouldn't.
Jets have been scrambled more than 2,000 times since the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001, including several well-publicized incidents during which private planes strayed into the restricted zone over Washington, causing the evacuation of the White House, the Capitol and other government buildings.
The GAO said there is no single leader of the airspace security effort
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With Homeland Security all we got was bigger Bureaucracy!!!