Maximum Risk

CHAPTER ONE The view was surreal from the cockpit of the Homeland Security jet interceptor I was flying. I was assigned airspace security duty over the most important group of people in the United States, and possibly the world. It was President George W. Bush's second inauguration and I was circling Washington, D.C. at 7000 feet. It was a beautiful day and I could see a crowd of nearly100,000 people below, which included the President of the United States, two former Presidents, most of Congress, the Supreme Court, and many other national and international VIPs. Millions from around the world were watching the event on TV. It was one of those rare moments in life when you find yourself involved in something much bigger than you ever could have imagined. My only prayer was, “Lord, don’t let me screw up!” I could see the White House, the Capitol Building, the Washington Monument, and all the other sites of Washington, D.C. from a perspective that few people have ever had. High above me were two F-16 fighter jets, and below me were batteries of surface-to-air missiles set strategically around the city. Two of Homeland Security’s Blackhawk helicopters were circling five miles to the north and south. There were other protective measures in place that I’m not going to discuss for security reasons. The tragedy of 9-11 was still fresh in everyone's mind and no one was taking any chances on security. Along with the usual threats, a very disturbing one had developed. Two days earlier someone had stolen a stealth ultra-light aircraft from a nearby military base. This aircraft, used by special force units, was almost invisible to radar and had us all concerned about the day’s event. To protect the airspace we set up a three-layer approach, which some referred to as a “sandwich.” With fighters armed with missiles above me and surface-to-air missiles below me, if this was a sandwich, I felt like the bologna in the middle. That’s because my aircraft had no weapons aboard, except for the pistols that we had in our shoulder holsters. If the ultra-light got through the outer rings of security, about the best we could do with our aircraft was to ram it. The ultra-light was very light and if we could clip it with our wingtip we could destroy it with only minor damage to our aircraft. At least that’s what we hoped. My part of the mission was not only to watch for this ultra-light but to intercept and identify any other slow-moving aircraft that entered the 30-mile restricted ring of airspace around Washington, D.C. Numerous times since 9-11, when this restricted airspace was put in place, small general aviation type aircraft had accidentally violated the airspace and caused the evacuation of the White House and the Capitol Building. This created not only a major disruption to government business, but a lot of panic for the people having to evacuate. The evacuations were happening so often that finally someone said enough is enough, something had to be done. As a result, the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) was placed in charge of airspace security over D.C. The area became known as the National Capital Region (NCR). The Office of Air and Marine is a part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. With over 300 aircraft and 200 boats the Office of Air and Marine is the largest law enforcement air and maritime force in the world. Not only were all the pilots federal agents, but they also flew the perfect aircraft for this mission. CBP’s jet interceptor, the Cessna Citation II, is a highly modified business jet. This aircraft can fly over 400 miles per hour at top speed, yet can still fly slow enough to intercept and track the slowest of most general aviation aircraft. The pilots were already highly skilled in intercepting these types of aircraft because they had been chasing drug smugglers for years. CBP also had several Blackhawk helicopters in their inventory. Also piloted by pilot/federal agents, the Blackhawks were perfect for landing at the small airports used by general aviation aircraft and conducting searches and arrests. That was something the military could not do, due to the Posse Comitatus Act that prevents the military from making arrests. The Air Force would still handle fast moving aircraft, but CBP would first intercept and identify all the targets under 200 miles per hour entering the restricted airspace. Most of the airspace incursions were small, slow-moving general aviation aircraft. There are lots of small airports surrounding the Washington, D.C. area, with lots of small plane traffic. This restricted airspace was put in place around D.C. so quickly that it was over a year before it was even depicted on aviation charts. As a result, many of the airspace violations occurred simply because the pilots were confused about the new restrictions. I had already intercepted one such confused pilot only a month before. I was on the alert crew at Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) when we got the call to scramble on an unidentified target entering the NCR. I jumped in our jet and began taxiing out, only to find the taxiways crowded with airliners waiting in line to take off. Since we had priority, the control tower held all the airliners in place. I was able to weave between them to the runway. I remember at one point one of my wings going under the wing of a large airliner. Despite the heavy airline traffic on the ground I was able to get airborne within the eight minute scramble window. Minutes later I had the target locked up on the air-to-air radar, the same radar used in F-16 fighters. I rolled out of my turn one mile in trail of the target. I quickly brought back the power and lowered the flaps and landing gear to slow down. The target was a small single-engine airplane that was flying very slowly, but I managed to slow down enough to pull up beside it and fly in formation only two wing spans away. On the nose of my jet was painted in large letters, POLICE 121.5. The 121.5 was the universal aviation emergency frequency. I rocked my wings to get the pilot’s attention. I can still remember the look on the pilot’s face when he turned and saw my jet flying only feet away. His eyes were as large as silver dollars. I was hoping that he was not so frightened that he would do something stupid like turn into my airplane. Luckily, the pilot changed his radio to the proper frequency and we were able to talk to him. It turned out that he was simply lost. We were able to get him to turn around and then we guided him to a nearby airport that was just outside the 30-mile circle. One of our Blackhawk helicopters, which had also been scrambled, landed behind him and the agents gave him a lesson in navigation I’m sure he will never forget. The agents said he was so nervous they were worried he was going to have a heart attack. I always wondered how he would feel if he knew that he was only minutes away from being shot down. After many other intercepts like this one we began to worry that an innocent aircraft might be accidentally shot down. Then it almost happened. A fighter jet came within seconds of shooting down the Governor of Kentucky. The Governor was flying into the D.C. area from Kentucky when, about 100 miles from D.C., his plane’s transponder malfunctioned. A transponder is a device that sends out a radar code so that air traffic controllers on the ground can identify the aircraft. It is required for all flights into the D.C. area. The pilot of the Governor’s airplane notified air traffic controllers of the problem before entering the restricted airspace and was told there was no problem in continuing to its destination to Reagan Washington National Airport