Frederick, MD – "This past weekend, two of the most respected members of the general aviation community were ordered from their aircraft at gunpoint by local police in Santa Barbara, California. Confusion about an aircraft registration number led to John and Martha King being placed in handcuffs and put into the back of police cars until the matter was sorted out.
“Simply put, this incident is as outrageous as it is inexplicable and raises serious questions about the coordination of information among federal and local authorities. A $2 app for an iPad and 30 seconds would have discovered sufficient information to raise serious doubt that John and Martha King, who filed and instrument flight plan in a Cessna 172, were transporting an older stolen Cessna 150 whose N-number had long ago been retired and reissued by the FAA.
“We have every right to expect more from our government's security officials than this! The Kings deserve an apology from senior officials with responsibility over the agencies involved and the general aviation community deserves a full accounting of what went wrong and just how the process will be fixed.
“This morning, I have called upon federal and local officials to review the actions surrounding this incident and report to the general aviation community just what happened and how a process that went seriously wrong will be fixed."
