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GA Pilots detained for flying VFR and fitting a Profile

Stories of two GA pilots detained and questioned for flying VFR and flying West to East fitting a certain "profile". ( 기타...

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This is starting to go very wrong. This DHS thing is out of control. They haven't been successful catching terrorists so I guess they are branching out to expand and justify their existence.
No money for controllers but think of what this must have cost. Out tax dollars being put to good use? Thanks DAD.....
ric lang 1
If these stories are indeed true, then all I have to say is "SONOFABITCH" Just what the hell is happening to this government? As I see it, all those "terrorists" that have targeted America (The great Satan) don't have to do anything more to the USA, just roll on the floor, laughing their asses off while the US gov. does the work for them. In retrospect concerning these 2 guys: What now? Is there a profile on them (watch list) when they fly commercial? I'm getting fed up with this current Govt. bullshit. Come look me up DEA, HS, BP.
suz 1
Probably better to not comment ...
We'll see. End of the week I'm flying my plane to Daytona. I might have a welcoming party. Lol
ansonj 1
This happened to me last year while flying IFR from Laredo, TX to La Porte Muni (T41). Upon arrival I saw the DEA helo on the ramp, about six agents plus 4 La Porte Police cars and a whole bunch of cops plus one dog. They were all around my plane when I stopped. My passengers deplaned and no questions for them, they were waiting for me and my copilot. They were looking for drugs I guess since I came from Laredo._While checking my lic. medical etc., they asked if their dog could get in the plane, I said yes but if he shits in it,they clean it up. They were trying to spook me by saying the dog had a hit for drugs in my plane, I told them I wanted a second opinion, another Damn Dog cause I didn't believe them. After they checked my truck and Dan's car, they said we could go. All this took about an hour and a very expensive helo flight from DWH to T41 and back.
Perhaps the best use of this column would be to advertise the names of Congressional members who empowered these tactics!
For the House:
For the Senate:

Note: Reading this note may qualify you to fit a Homeand Security profile.
I found this a bit about weight and balance documentation requirements unsettling, especially with :
He off-handedly noted that this requirement was little known by most pilots, and said, "We keep this in our back pocket for non-compliant suspects." That is is not true means little. What else is in that pocket?

This squawk came to mind when I read the front page of 5/27/13 SF Chronicle regarding asset seizures and law enforcement profiting thereof. How much is an airplane worth in a civil asset seizure?

It is Memorial Day. To all the vets on FA, thank you.
If you were stopped driving your vehicle, for the same reasons, would any of these comments even be made? GA represents a very unsecure means of transport, and as such is subject to the occasional stop by law enforcement. The same thing happens on the water and on the highways, get over it.
We're you born and raised in America ? Or are you just a fan of big government?
ric lang 1
I agree with Wallace! Lay down and roll over, Schecter. You sound like a kid with no brains. I seriously doubt that you were ever in the military, just a loudmouth asshole. Fed up, yet again!
In answer to your question, yes they would be ( at least in my case). Just because it's happening on the water and highway does not make it right. Getting leaned on for fitting a profile is as American as apple pie lately. If you aren't in an enforcement organization, you fit the profile and are fair game. This was wrong bedore 9/11 and is still wrong now. Why should we have to ask for our Bill of Rights back?
After some further reading. The BP does have the right to search cars and planes entering the country. This was not the case. I was also watch COPS last night and saw the officer say the dog hit on something. What was funny was the dog had not hit (sat down or started scratching) on anything (even though there was a marijuana plant in the back of the open truck) Then the officer said there would be drugs on the drivers side. They found drugs on the passenger side. Based on reading some AOPA stories, the feds are mad at Colorado, Washington and California so if you fly there you are now "in the profile" I would have to read the FARs again, but seems that the FAA could the be the only agency to enforce the Weight and balance rule, if it exists.
wow! an education on search and seizure from watching cops? no wonder our country is in trouble. perhaps using a more viable source of information for your comment would yield better results?
While what happened to these two guys is reprehensible, what I find almost as disgusting is the "writer's" blatantly crude and utterly unnecessary remarks that pilots are mostly white, male, with former military experience, and therefore we are privileged. Even if one only looked at it from a journalistic perspective it added nothing to the article and probably only served to help assuage the "writer's" white guilt complex.
The author indicated he said this to make the reader aware that pilots are not the demographic that typically gets targeted by the cops, and that if this type of horse shit is happening to them, then the author says imagine how bad it is for the "driving while black" demographic.

Speaking of how bad it really is, just now the supreme court declared that the police can forcibly take DNA samples from people they arrest for any reason, no warrant or cause needed.
ric lang 1
So, Mr. Casey.....Apparently you're a reader of the "associated Press Stylebook & Libel Manual", or mostly Black.
"Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001" rides again. DHS must shred American's constitutional rights in order to function. How soon before the disappearances and renditions begin. With respect Wallace24, it's been gone wrong for some time. We need more stories like these to come out.
DHS was wrong from get go. How many layers of cops do we need anyhow? I can't even think of all the different agencies that are basically cops. This pilot was subjected to 5 or 6 different types in this one encounter. Unreal!


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