Arizona's Security Issues Go Beyond the Border

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Copyright 2007
Informed Ideas

On the 4th of July I went out to take some photos of local events. I ended up walking out on the tarmac of the Chandler Regional Airport and taking photos of aircraft, the control tower and surrounding areas. No one said a word or asked me what I was doing. A few people actually waved at me.

I accessed the tarmac through an unlocked gate near the terminal building. The terminal building itself was closed and locked in observance of the holiday and no one seemed to be around. There was one other vehicle in the parking lot and the flag had been raised but the newspaper was still sitting on the sidewalk.

Once through the gate, I was able to walk right up to the planes. The photos show how close I got. It was a fairly busy morning, with several planes taking off and landing during the short time I was there. Even so, there were plenty of opportunities for mischief.

Having spent a good portion of my life wandering around civil aviation airports, I can come up with plenty of excuses for why I went unquestioned and seemingly unnoticed:

• It was a holiday, which always means visitors flying in and locals flying out to visit family or friends.
  
• People were off work and the weather was good making it a great opportunity to add some more flight time.
  
• People who visit civil aviation airports are generally private pilots themselves or relatives/friends/passengers of private pilots and so, be extension "belong" there.
  
• Making it tougher to get to their planes would mean some unhappy pilots.
  
• No one except pilots, their family or their friends would be taking photos of these smaller airports.
  
• Few civil aviation airports are located in the center of densely populated areas and therefore are not an attractive target.

I know better than to think that any pilot close enough to see me didn't notice me, if only because of safety issues. Since I didn't approach any aircraft in operation, however, I wasn't in danger or putting them in danger and thus they could focus their attention elsewhere.

That doesn't make me any more comfortable with the fact that I just walked out onto the tarmac and started taking photos. I've never flown into or out of this airport. I was a complete stranger to all of them, even if I did look like I knew what I was doing and had a valid reason for being there.

My stroll occurred at a time when the nation's security threat level was elevated to the Yellow level. It was the same week terrorists crashed an SUV into the Glasgow Airport in the Scotland. A month earlier, four men had been charged with conspiring to blow up jet fuel supply tanks and pipelines at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport.

The airport and tarmac looked secure. The tarmac, hangers, tower and aircraft were surround be fencing topped with barbed wire. I noticed vehicle gates which were closed and appeared to require the use of a security code or card in order to be opened from the street. The terminal building was locked up tight. There were plenty of people around. Obviously, none of this was enough.

The Arizona Republic reported today that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is nearly tripling homeland security funding in the Phoenix metropolitan area. This is good news, since the $3,920,000 in Urban Area Security Initiative Allocations (UASI) Phoenix received in fiscal year 2006 was among the lowest amounts provided. In fact, only the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Buffalo, New York and Toledo, Ohio areas received less. The $12 million in funding expected to be announced by the DHS today at least puts Phoenix on the same funding level as Texas' Dallas-Ft. Worth area and California's Anaheim/Santa Barbara area, based on the 2006 funding of those areas. A significant portion of those funds are likely to be used to address illegal immigration and the security gap posed by more than 1,000 people illegally crossing Arizona's border every day. Hopefully, some of the funds will also go to closing other security gaps like those at civil aviation airports. It would be nice to have such gaps closed before the nation's attention is focused on the Valley for Super Bowl XLII in February 2008.

I haven't tried walking out on the tarmacs anywhere else in the Valley. I think part of me is afraid, especially after calling attention to this security gap, that I will get stopped. Part of me is afraid I won't. I'll let you know what happens.

Click here for copyright permissions!
Copyright 2007
Informed Ideas