Albert Lea Airport manager Jim Hanson is one of thousands of Americans who were in the sky around the time of the terrorist attack last Tuesday, and whose aircraft were ordered to land at the nearest airports.

Wednesday, September 19, 2001

Albert Lea Airport manager Jim Hanson is one of thousands of Americans who were in the sky around the time of the terrorist attack last Tuesday, and whose aircraft were ordered to land at the nearest airports. But unlike many others he was not informed about the course change by pilots. He was the pilot.

In the cockpit of a Beachcraft 200 plane flying 24,000 feet high, Hanson was on his way to Churchill, Canada, from Albert Lea. Coming back to his home airport, after making an unexpected stopover at Duluth for four days, he has been observing unusually calm runways due to the flight restriction imposed by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA).

In spite of being fully aware of the security measures, Hanson hopes the situation will get back to normal as soon as possible.

Though the FAA lifted the restriction on commercial flights on last Wednesday, general aviation is still heavily regulated.

Only instrument-rated pilots can fly with clearance and submission of their flight plan before departure. Aircraft without instrumental navigation equipment such as a transponder are not allowed to take off. Some types of planes, like ex-military, experimental and agricultural, are also banned.

As many as 150 aircraft took off and landed at the Albert Lea Airport a day before the attack. Now there are only a handful.

&uot;It is a bit of overreaction,&uot; Hanson said of the FAA mandate. &uot;What we operate here are private flights. Every pilot knows all the passengers, and there is no security issue,&uot; said Hanson.

Besides the slow business, some aviation events at the airport were called off.

A B-17 bomber exhibition on Thursday was cancelled. An acrobatic flight contest with more than 50 planes from all over the country scheduled on Thursday through Sunday was postponed, too.

The possible U.S. retaliation also worries the local aviation specialist.

Hanson, who accomplished round-trip flights to Antarctica and Europe in his light plane, now has a plan to challenge a three-month long circumnavigation trip next year. If the war breaks out in the Middle East, stopovers in the region that are crucial for the routing are going to be extremely difficult, according to Hanson.

Owning 28 planes in the hangers, Hanson operates sales and chartering business.

Since this week, his phone has kept ringing with calls from corporations interested in private flights.

&uot;They are tired of wasting time using commercial flights,&uot; Hanson said. Because of the tightened security check in the airport, passengers need much more time for checking in and picking up baggage, and flight delay is more frequent.

The flight ban is also affecting Minnesota Aviation, a flight school at the Albert Lea Airport.

The school has nine airplanes for training. Since last Tuesday, all visual flight training is halted. In addition, training for more advanced flight certifications, such as commercial flight and flight instructor, also have become impossible. That is because the training menu includes some flight patterns that the FAA restricted, according to Tim Jarvis, school manager.

The FAA demanded all aviation schools in the nation to report any &uot;suspicious student.&uot; But Jarvis finds it irrelevant to his school. He said, &uot;I can see what they (FAA) are doing and their points. But it is hard to see what we do is a threat.&uot;