Pilots, air carriers and other Alaska aviation stakeholders are working with federal agencies to design a plan for airspace security when President Barack Obama visits Alaska next week that will restrict flying at times during the busy fall hunting season, but won't shut it down, officials said Monday.
The general framework likely will include security checkpoints for small planes, their pilots and passengers at select spots, including Lake Hood, Merrill Field, Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and perhaps others, said John Parrott, manager of the Anchorage airport.
Pilots operating at small strips or from smaller lakes will face more down time than those at bigger areas where security checks can be done, he said.
That was some of his takeaway after a two-hour meeting Monday at the Anchorage International Airport, where the U.S. Secret Service, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Security Administration gathered with commercial, military and private Alaska aviation interests.
The session was "a combined effort of TSA and FAA to give as much warning to the aviation community" as possible about flight restrictions, said Kerry B. Long, FAA Alaska region administrator.
Specifics are still being worked out but should be announced mid-week in a notice to airmen.
Disruptions are not expected for commercial passenger and cargo flights out of Anchorage International. But other flights could be impacted as officials try to balance protection of the president with aviation needs, said Parrott, who also oversees Lake Hood, the biggest and busiest float plane base in the world.
Small planes may be grounded for stretches, but FAA's Long said there would be "substantial periods of time where whatever restrictions are in place will be lifted" during the stay of the "VIP," which is how the FAA refers to the president in its announcements about flight restrictions.
Stress levels are high for small flying services that don't yet know when or for how long they will be restricted during one of their busiest times -- the start of moose and duck hunting seasons. Floatplane operators in particular have been anxious, but officials said Monday there won't be a complete shutdown, despite the wording of an earlier announcement.
The comprehensive security plan will be "designed to minimize disruption," said Bob Kierstead, Secret Service special agent in charge of the Seattle field office, which oversees the Anchorage Secret Service office.
Still, an FAA advisory released Friday warned that temporary flight restrictions may be significant during Obama's visit. The announcement included a list of prohibited activities that were typical elsewhere, a list that included floatplane flights. Pilots who violate the rules could face deadly force, the FAA said.
"The flight plane advisory specifically lists seaplanes on the same list of nuisances to aviation that are strictly forbidden," Mike Laughlin, owner of Regal Air, a flight service based at Lake Hood, said before Monday's meeting. "Which is just absurd in the state of Alaska."
The president will land in Air Force One at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on Aug.31, travel to Seward on Sept. 1, then fly to both Dillingham and Kotzebue on Sept. 2 before leaving Alaska.
Obama's visit is timed around the State Department's Arctic global leadership conference in Anchorage next week.
In Southcentral Alaska, waterfowl season opens Sept. 1 and moose season opens on varying days depending on the area, starting Tuesday and up to Sept. 1.
"The timing couldn't be worse," said John Ellison, owner of Ellison Air flight seeing tours on Lake Spenard, part of the Lake Hood Seaplane Base, as he hurried to tie up his floatplane and welcome some clients waiting to take a tour Monday evening. The president is arriving at "the very busiest time on the lake," he said.
He said he was anxious, but needed more specifics. Details on how long airspace will be restricted in various locations have not yet been released.
Private pilot Paul Worrell said that he was concerned about the flight restrictions, as he was supposed to go sheep hunting at the end of the month. "I've gotta leave Anchorage somehow," Worrell said.
Air carriers have been told that the security restrictions may be similar to those that governed flight around Martha's Vineyard, Dale said. President Obama and his family just wrapped up a 16-day vacation there. They left Sunday on Marine One, the presidential helicopter.
Flights related to the president, air ambulance traffic and scheduled commercial passenger and cargo flights were allowed on Martha's Vineyard, under FAA flight restrictions.
But other aircraft within a 10-mile radius around Martha's Vineyard had to be screened at nearby "gateway airports" or the Martha's Vineyard airport, under the temporary flight restrictions. Screenings were available daily from 6 a.m. to 7:59 p.m. Operators had to register for screening at least 24 hours in advance of their departure time.
"Gateway screening will include ID verification and vetting of all pilots, crew and passengers, screening of persons and baggage, and inspection of the aircraft," the rules for Martha's Vineyard said.
Seaplanes -- the term used by the FAA -- were grounded there.
In Alaska, some small plane owners may want to reposition their aircraft before the restrictions kick in, Parrott said. Lake Campbell floatplane pilots, for instance, will be under different restrictions than those at Lake Hood.
"The backyard airstrip folks, if they want to fly during that time period, they probably need to relocate to Merrill or Lake Hood before these go into effect," he said.
The FAA notice to airmen will specify the periods and locations of flight restrictions.