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search) afte r the errant flight led to the scrambling of military aircraft and the p anicked evacuation of thousands of people from the White House, the Capi tol and the Supreme Court.
search), who had logged o nly 30 hours of flight time, was flying the plane when the military airc raft intercepted it, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Revoking Sheaffer's license "reflects the seriousness in which we view al l restricted airspace violations and, in this case, the level of incursi on into restricted airspace," FAA spokesman Greg Martin said Monday. According to the FAA, Sheaffer, 69, wasn't even supposed to have a passen ger in the single-engine Cessna in the first place. He hadn't met the re quirement to do so: three takeoffs and three landings within the previou s 90 days of the flight. He didn't take the most basic steps required of pilots before flying a pl ane, the FAA said.
When he got lost, he didn't call air traffic control or a flight service station to establish his location, which was 40 to 45 miles south of whe re he actually was, the FAA said. The plane was intercepted by a US Customs Service Black Hawk helicopter and a Citation jet, and then by two F-16 fighters that dropped four fla res. "At no time during any of these events did you exercise the judgment to t ake physical control or command of the aircraft from your inexperienced passenger," the FAA said. Though hundreds of people have mistakenly flown into Washington's restric ted airspace, the FAA rarely revokes a pilot's license for such an offen se. In this case, the agency determined Sheaffer "constitutes an unaccep table risk to safety in air commerce." The agency said no action would be taken against Martin. Private planes are not allowed to fly in the Air Defense Identification Z one, or ADIZ an area of about 2,000 square miles radiating from the th ree airports around Washington unless they have a special transponder code and maintain radio contact with the FAA. They're not allowed at all within the Flight Restricted Zone, or FRZ, abo ut a 16-mile radius around the Washington Monument. Telephone calls seeking comment from both Sheaffer and Martin were not im mediately returned for comment.
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