Catty... Have you been watching the news, man? Look at what happened in Austin, TX not more than a week ago!
Okay, let's look at the facts here. Say a terrorist somehow gains control of a Boeing 747-400 passenger airliner. They may be big, but they are not slow. While they usually ride pretty smooth, their top rated ground speed is a knuckle-whitening 614 mph. That's 533 knots, 988 km/h, or Mach 0.92. Need a better idea of how fast that is? Okay. Try 10.23 miles per minute. That's right, roughly ten-and-one-quarter miles-per-minute, or nearly sixteen-and-one-half kilometers-per-minute.
Now, I don't know what the boundries for the No-Fly zones are. However, given the data above, I'd be pretty damn paranoid. For one thing, I would want time to ascertain whether or not an airliner has had a terrible case of pilot error or equipment failure... or if some nutjob actually has taken control of the plane and intends to do an end-run on the White House. You don't want to be sending your SAMs to light up a target that's genuinely innocent - that's bad press no matter how you spin it!
Also you'd like a moment to get the PotUS, the VP, the JCoS, and whatever other VIPs that happen to kicking it at the White House out in a timely manner.
In short, do I think that the No Fly Zones are too big? HAH! They probably aren't big enough! Got a problem with it? Tell Amtrak, BARTA, and the other local rail operators to start laying more track and running more trains. This is not an issue that is going to go away anymore.
Besides, after kicking it Japanese style, I can tell you that a rail-focused tansit system ain't too shabby if it's done right - the only things they ever really slow down for here are earthquakes and commuter suicides (the ever popular Japanese custom of taking a flying leap infront of the train as it pulls through the station).
Okay, let's look at the facts here. Say a terrorist somehow gains control of a Boeing 747-400 passenger airliner. They may be big, but they are not slow. While they usually ride pretty smooth, their top rated ground speed is a knuckle-whitening 614 mph. That's 533 knots, 988 km/h, or Mach 0.92. Need a better idea of how fast that is? Okay. Try 10.23 miles per minute. That's right, roughly ten-and-one-quarter miles-per-minute, or nearly sixteen-and-one-half kilometers-per-minute.
Now, I don't know what the boundries for the No-Fly zones are. However, given the data above, I'd be pretty damn paranoid. For one thing, I would want time to ascertain whether or not an airliner has had a terrible case of pilot error or equipment failure... or if some nutjob actually has taken control of the plane and intends to do an end-run on the White House. You don't want to be sending your SAMs to light up a target that's genuinely innocent - that's bad press no matter how you spin it!
Also you'd like a moment to get the PotUS, the VP, the JCoS, and whatever other VIPs that happen to kicking it at the White House out in a timely manner.
In short, do I think that the No Fly Zones are too big? HAH! They probably aren't big enough! Got a problem with it? Tell Amtrak, BARTA, and the other local rail operators to start laying more track and running more trains. This is not an issue that is going to go away anymore.
Besides, after kicking it Japanese style, I can tell you that a rail-focused tansit system ain't too shabby if it's done right - the only things they ever really slow down for here are earthquakes and commuter suicides (the ever popular Japanese custom of taking a flying leap infront of the train as it pulls through the station).