We found this in the New York Times.
SCHUMER CALLS FOR AIR TRAFFIC REVIEW Senator Charles Schumer yesterday called on the Federal Aviation Administration to complete a review of New York’s airspace in the next 90 days in light of the plane crash that killed the New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and his flight instructor,. The senator proposed several measures including assessing whether pilots should have background checks before being allowed to fly in river corridors or over Manhattan. Laura Brown, a spokeswoman for the F.A.A., said that the agency would continue to review the air space over New York.
It is pretty amazing to Corra, after the catastrophe of 9/11 that private pilots are permitted to fly merrily along the New York Skyline or any other city skyline, until the city once again is forced to endure yet another crash into one of its fabled structures. This, to Corra, is like an invitation for terrorists. A simple question comes to mind–only now they are getting around to the idea of background checks?
Any private pilot in this day and age should be subject to his review on the Terrorist Watch or OFAC report as well as Federal Criminal Searches. It is just common sense, which one pundit once remarked, unfortunately, is not so common. But then we should at least pretend to be smart about our home security and run background checks on anyone capable of turning even a modest leisure plane into a deadly weapon.
Check them out before they fly over a city near you.