Headaches over flight restrictions for Trump vacation

ERWINNA, Pa. (WPVI) -- Flight restrictions have been put into place around Bedminster, New Jersey, where President Donald Trump is spending his vacation.

That area includes a 10 mile circle in which no private planes can fly, and limited operations in a 30 mile zone.

That zone extends into parts into central New Jersey along with Bucks and Northampton counties in Pennsylvania.

Van Sant Airfield in Erwinna, Bucks County, is in that zone. It's a museum of sorts, celebrating planes when they were made of wood and fabric.

The airfield's bread-and-butter is open cockpit bi-plane rides.

But the 30 mile ring requires planes to have radios and a radar tracking device called a transponder. Most of Van Sant's fleet, including its gliders, do not.

In fact, only three planes are so equipped.

They now must file a flight plan and the pilots of those three planes must leave the circle before they can do any sightseeing.

"And I am going to go by the rules and hopefully won't make anybody upset, do it how want me to do it and see how it works," said Flight Operations Manager Bar Eisenhauer.

Still, most of his fleet will be grounded.

He is asking the federal government for a waiver. He proposes a pie-shaped wedge of airspace that would allow planes without electrical systems to fly in and out of the ring.

"If I get a two mile wide corridor, shoot straight out, I can deal with it. If you give me 5,000 feet I can deal with it," said Eisenhauer.

Eisenhauer made his request a month ago, but so far he has not gotten a reply.

Full text of flight restrictions:

No pilots may operate an aircraft in the areas covered by this NOTAM (except as described).

Except as specified below and/or unless authorized by ATC in consultation with the air traffic security coordinator via the domestic events network (DEN):

A. All aircraft operations within the 10 NMR area(s) listed above, known as the inner core(s), are prohibited except for: Approved law enforcement, military aircraft directly supporting the United States Secret Service (USSS) and the office of the President of the United States, approved air ambulance flights, and regularly scheduled commercial passenger and all-cargo carriers operating under one of the following TSA-Approved standard security programs/procedures: aircraft operator standard security program (AOSSP), full all-cargo aircraft operator standard security program (FACAOSSP), model security program (MSP), twelve five standard security program (TFSSP) all cargo, or all-cargo international security procedure (ACISP) and are arriving into and/or departing from 14 cfr part 139 airports. All emergency/life saving flight (medical/law enforcement/firefighting) operations must coordinate with ATC prior to their departure at 516-683-2966 to avoid potential delays.

B. For operations within the airspace between the 10 nmr and 30 nmr area(s) listed above, known as the outer ring(s): THE New York Class B airspace Hudson River SFRA Exclusion and East River SFRA Exclusion, 14 CFR 93.350(d), IS EXCLUDED FROM THE RESTRICTIONS IN THIS TFR. All OTHER aircraft operating within the outer ring(s) listed above are limited to aircraft arriving or departing local airfields, and workload permitting, ATC may authorize transit operations. Aircraft may not loiter. All aircraft must be on an active IFR or a filed VFR flight plan with a discrete code assigned by an air traffic control (ATC) facility. Aircraft must be squawking the discrete code prior to departure and at all times while in the TFR and must remain in two-way radio communications with ATC.

C. The following operations are not authorized within this TFR: flight training, practice instrument approaches, aerobatic flight, glider operations, seaplane operations, parachute operations, ultralight, hang gliding, balloon operations, agriculture/crop dusting, animal population control flight operations, banner towing operations, sightseeing operations, maintenance test flights, model aircraft operations, model rocketry, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), and utility and pipeline survey operations.

D. FAA recommends that all aircraft operators check notams frequently for possible changes to this TFR prior to operations within this region.

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