Help! 
You ask what am I fighting? I am fighting for my life and every life in South Florida. The FAA disaster recovery plan will place 3 vital radar systems 1.5 nautical miles away from their back up system! Great idea! Only our government would be that stupid.
FAA USES SOUTH FLORIDA AS GUINEA PIGS
On May 13, 2008 I was in attendance at a meeting with the FAA at the invitation of Congressman Alcee Hastings. It took place in the Holiday Inn at the West Palm Beach International airport. I arrived their early and hung up some maps to help with my questions. There was a person from Miami Tower who took them down and handed them back to me. I asked if he didn't want the people to see the truth. He said “We have a plan, and you will like it.” I said bull*&%$. He then asked my name and I merely stated I was a concerned citizen.
As the meeting started the FAA gave a presentation and said there would be a question and answer period to follow. Rick Ducharme(Deputy Vice President of Terminal Services for the FAA) said that they would stay and entertain answer any questions from the public. The FAA officials did and I thank them for that.
I waited until close near the end of the meeting before I presented my questions. Indicated that the picture in front of me that has Jacksonville ARTCC center taking over Miami Center’s air space bothers me. I asked what the radar range of a center is beyond their boundaries.They could not tell me other than for miles.
I told them I had a letter from the FAA that I received through Senator Nelson’s office. In that letter, it states that an ARTCC center can see outwards to 250 nm. I asked if he knew how far away Miami and Key West are from Jacksonville, someone on FAA pane said many miles, and to that he replied something to the effect of he guesses by his GPS over 300 miles.
I the told him Miami is 283nm and Key West 345nm.They argued that yes they can see Key West because the southernmost radar for Jacksonville Center is located in Melbourne. I said ok. I some research and found that it is 220.982nm. However we still have a problem in that the Oceanic Sectors of the Miami center are left uncovered. (Half way through the Bahamas)
Now to the next question that I presented to the FAA, if the Jacksonville Center boundaries are moved to take over Miami Center’s air space, then who will cover Jacksonville's air space? No answer. I then asked do you have the equipment, and frequencies to really cover Miami’s airspace. No answer. Finally I THE ASKED IF ANY ARTCC FACILITY HAD EVER TAKEN OVER FOR ANOTHER? There was silence and finally an answer of “NO”. I said :Just great you are going to use us as guinea pigs. We have no one to the right or left to help. I ask again who will help us? No answer.
I told them I wanted the same opportunity New Orleans had following Hurricane Katrina. They looked at me kind of funny and I then said according to your website dated September 9, 2005; you handled quadruple the air traffic after that disaster. I said the reason you were able to do this was because the New Orleans air traffic was handled by the ARTCC in Houston which was completely unaffected by the storm. And the TRACON you used was Baton Rouge, north of New Orleans.
I brought up the incident which occurred on September 27th, 2007 when the Memphis ARTCC went down. “Why didn't any of the 5 surrounding other ARTCC Centers take over that airspace?” A technical representative from the FAA proceeded to answer that question. He indicated that the incident occurred because the FAA did not have a backup with AT&T to send the radar signals to the center. he also indicated that problem has been fixed. He said that it was only down for two hours and I corrected him by stating that the systems was actually down for four hours. Since he didn't answer my question, I asked again, why didn’t any of the 5 surrounding ARTCC Centers take over?
I was told that the facility was not down long enough to have another ARTCC center take over. I followed that statement by asking how long would it take to have one ARTCC center take over and assume another ARTCC center’s air space? The FAA technician sat down and Rick Ducharme took over with the response, “well that depends?” I asked “Depends on what?” Mr. Ducharme followed with something to the effect of ‘Where we would be able to set up the equipment and that we would also have the military to help.’ Again I asked, “How long will the people of South Florida have to wait for help?” No Answer. What kind of service will we have? One thing that the FAA representatives agreed on was that it would be limited. I responded by telling them that as a taxpayer I don't want limited.
When I asked what do you think your life is worth? Rick Ducharme laughed and said that depends on what you are talking about. Again I asked, what do you think your life is worth? I suggested a million dollars and he laughed and said a lot more than that. I then replied, “Ok let’s just say one million dollars. Now take that and multiply it by the 8 million people that live here in South Florida, you know that measly 24 million dollars that you would save over the next 20 years does not compare to the value of our lives.” My statement left the FAA in total silence. As a tax payer I told them that I wanted the same options that were available to New Orleans.
The FAA really does not have a valid contingency plan like they say they do. It is all about trust us we are the FAA. They continue to mislead and tell untruths to the Congressman, Senators and the public.
Could you imagine how much worse New Orleans would have been after Hurricane Katrina without the Baton Rouge radar, 70 miles to the north? Being able to handle quadruple the air traffic, and rescuing 23,000 people and bring in supplies. That will be South Florida only worse.
I have a great idea. Why don’t we test the FAA’s theory and cut power to the Miami TRACON and Miami ARTCC on Thanksgiving Eve. My guess is that would be about the equivalent of quadruple the normal air traffic. The FAA could do their test and see just how this situation would work out.
I am still asking WHERE IS THE BACKUP!
If you look at the WHERE'S THE BACKUP presentation on this page you will understand a little about air traffic control and a lot of why I'm scared for the population and businesses of south Florida.
