Restricting Flights on Sept. 11, 12 Proposed

Federal regulators are proposing to restrict foreign aircraft flying into and from New York and Washington and over Somerset County, Pa., on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

A Federal Aviation Administration official said the restrictions proposed for Sept. 11 and 12 haven’t been approved, but they would ban flights within 30 miles of Washington.

The proposed restrictions also include:

* Banning international flights to and from Washington from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. EDT Sept. 11.

* International flights at New York wouldn’t be permitted from 8 a.m. to noon, and 3:30 to 9:30 p.m. Sept. 11. The next day, the ban would be in effect from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 7 to 10:30 p.m.

* Small aircraft flying to and from New York would be restricted from 7 a.m. Sept. 11 to 8 p.m. Sept. 13.

* Flights would not be allowed over Somerset County, Pa., where one of the four hijacked planes crashed, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 11.

FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said the times of the restrictions are meant to coincide with ceremonies scheduled in those areas to honor victims of the attacks. Shanksville, Pa., was the community where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed after being hijacked.

Brown declined to comment about the government’s reasons for imposing the restrictions, but said the procedures were developed jointly with officials from various national security agencies.

“There’s still room for changes in the details,” she added.

Other FAA officials said the proposed restrictions were ordered by national security agencies.

“I really can’t understand it,” one FAA official said. “There are lots of vulnerabilities out there, but they apply equally to domestic and foreign airlines. Why single out foreign airlines?”

If implemented, the restrictions have the potential to affect dozens of airlines.

For example, more than 60 foreign carriers regularly use New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. The agency’s action is expected to cover nearly four dozen airports of varying sizes along the East Coast.

The plan also would curb flights by regional and commuter airlines, Brown said, unless they have installed bulletproof cockpit doors or have taken alternate security measures. Brown declined to describe those alternate measures.

Representatives of several foreign carriers said they were unprepared to comment concerning the planned restrictions, but a spokesman for Britain’s Virgin Atlantic Airways said discussions are underway between the FAA and the International Air Transport Assn., which represents international airlines.