Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration is relaxing its restrictions on private planes in 15 metropolitan areas where most flights had been banned since last month’s terrorist attacks. Rules in Seattle will change on Wednesday.
In the 15 areas, private pilots will be able to fly under visual flight rules, where they fly low enough in the sky to navigate by landmarks on the ground and are responsible for keeping their planes away from other aircraft. Up to 90 percent of all private plane flights are conducted under visual flight rules.
In another 13 metropolitan areas, pilots can fly private planes only if they file flight plans with the FAA and are in contact with air traffic controllers.
No private plane flights are allowed within 20 miles of Kennedy Airport in New York and Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C. Also still closed are 17 small airports in the Washington and New York metropolitan areas.
From Monday to Wednesday, five metropolitan areas each day will be reopened to private planes flying under visual flight rules:
"This is another step in the FAA’s phased program to restore access to U. S. airspace," FAA Administrator Jane Garvey said Friday. "We expect to take additional actions to restore flying consistent with national security."
Pilots must have transponders, which allow air traffic controllers to track their planes, or receive waivers from the FAA. They must monitor a specified radio frequency while in the airspace around the metropolitan areas.
The restrictions affect planes flying within 22.7 miles of the major airports in each metropolitan area.
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