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Aide: Plane in D.C. Scare Not Off Course
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By CHARLES WOLFE
Associated Press Writer
June 10, 2004, 1:43 PM EDT
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Gov. Ernie Fletcher's airplane, which touched off a security scare at the U.S. Capitol, was never off course and never lost radio contact with controllers, aides to the governor said Thursday.
Dignitaries and mourners preparing for the arrival of Ronald Reagan's casket Wednesday stampeded out of the Capitol after police said an unidentified plane might be headed for the building.
Fletcher's plane, a 32-year-old Kentucky State Police turboprop, was taking the governor to Reagan's funeral at the time.
Daniel Groves, the governor's chief of staff, said at a news conference Thursday that the plane's transponder, which transmits the plane's identifying signal to controllers, had quit working shortly after takeoff from Greater Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport. At that point, the pilots went by the book and maintained contact with air-traffic controllers for the rest of the flight, Groves said.
Both he and Doug Hogan, the governor's communications director, said controllers apparently didn't pass the word on to security agencies that the plane had permission to be in restricted air space.
"They (pilots) followed directions from air traffic controllers explicitly," Hogan said. "They did not wander off course. They did not inadvertently enter the air space. They had permission to be there.
"It would appear the air traffic controllers did not notify any of the other agencies about the situation," Hogan said.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed Wednesday that the Beechcraft King Air 200 had permission to fly into the restricted air space.
The mixup had police fearing the aircraft was headed for the Capitol. Crowds raced out of the building after occupants were warned, "You have one minute to impact."
Groves said Fletcher, a former Air Force fighter pilot, was unaware until he landed of the uproar at the Capitol or that a pair of F-15 fighters had been sent aloft during the incident.
"He did not sense any danger or any concern because they were in full control of the airplane," Groves said.
The building was reopened at around 4:30 p.m. EDT, about 1 1/2 hours before the start of the procession bringing Reagan's body to the Capitol Rotunda.
Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press
