Waukesha Professor Heads General Aviation Security Program

WAUKESHA, Wis. --

Small airports have long been venerable to everything from graffiti to stolen planes. At nearly 20,000 small airports across the county, there is no federal agency running security, meaning law enforcement is too often lax.

Brian Dorow, the Associate Dean of Law Enforcement at Waukesha County Technical College, is trying to change that. A former police officer turned college teacher, he's created the first-of-its-kind General Aviation Security Program.

"The bottom line -- how to prevent it. That's what their training is all about," he said.

The program is funded by the Department of Homeland Security, and so far airports in 20 states are using it.

Dorow said the incident this week -- when a man caused panic flying a stolen plane across the Midwest -- shows the weakness of small airports.

"As far as I'm concerned, a lot of these incidents -- including that one -- could have been prevented," Dorow said.

According to police, the plane thief jumped the fence at a small airport in Canada, found the keys in the single-engine Cessna and took off. Dorow said his program teaches basic awareness -- meaning keys are never left in the plane, the door is always locked and other pilots are watching out for anything suspicious.

"My door is locked, the prop is locked. People are going to start asking questions in the near future. Chances are, I'm on my way," Dorow said.

At Crites Field in Waukesha, some pilots are buying into the program.

Mike Stein, the head of Stein's Aircraft Services, said they are constantly updating their security.

"We're the first ones to make a phone call if something doesn't look right out here," he said.

The WCTC program also trains first responders in everything from knowing what kind of license a pilot should have to creating emergency plans.

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