2010 Olympics security preparation begins

The numbers are staggering. The expected visitors include 5,000 athletes and officials, 10,000 media and 25,000 volunteers, not to mention tens of thousands of spectators.

Using the previous winter games in Salt Lake City as a baseline, there could be an additional 1,000 flights per day arriving at Vancouver airports, double the current rate at the International airport.

There will be many VIPs with special travel requirements and extra incoming cargo for equipment and other support for the games. There will be many news helicopters covering the various venues as well as emergency medevac support and police air surveillance adding to the pressure on airspace and air traffic control.

Another staggering number is the potential length of time security measures will be in place - as long as 60 days in February and March, from the opening of the Olympic village and the arrival of the Olympic athletes to the close of the Paralympics and departure of the athletes.

Security is a major concern, and security of the airspace, airports and aircraft is right on top of the list. Given the long period of time that restrictions may be in place, and using previous major events as an example where personal aviation was impacted the most, COPA President Kevin Psutka began working the issue some time ago, calling on the authorities to get key industry people and government agencies together early and develop a plan to not only address the security concerns, but more importantly, to alleviate the problems that occurred with previous major events, such as the Kananaskis G8 Summit, the U.S. Presidential visit to Ottawa and the Detroit Super Bowl.

From COPA’s experience, the main problems were inadequate consultation with the industry to fully understand the impact of restrictions, inadequate dissemination of information and confusing NOTAMs issued too late to ensure that everyone was informed well in advance of the event so that affected people could make plans to deal with restrictions.

9/11 illustrated the value of COPA as a source of information and communication when major disruptions to our freedom to fly are imposed. We discovered that relying on NOTAMs as the sole source of information is not sufficient to ensure that everyone understands the restrictions.

COPA Staff were in contact with key government officials to clarify the instructions and point out deficiencies in the NOTAMs. They also fielded many calls from both COPA members and non-members who could not reach government officials for clarification. And our website, which experienced a ten-fold increase in hits during the weeks following the attacks, was a valuable communication tool to augment the cumbersome NOTAM system.

 COPA, as a source for clarification and communication, relieved the over-taxed government officials so that they could deal with other issues. And COPA again is stepping up to offer its services.

There have been three major events in Canada since 9/11 that required considerable security, and resulted in major restrictions to personal aviation. The G8 Summit of world leaders in Kananaskis, Alberta required a 4-day restriction on airspace out to 80 nm. A U.S. Presidential visit in Ottawa shut down a 30 nm area around Ottawa for a day. And the Super Bowl in Detroit introduced a 30 nm exclusion zone that extended into Canada for a two-day period.

In each case, personal aviation was affected the most, from total prohibition in Ottawa and near the Super Bowl, to exclusion from virtually all of the areas in Alberta except for some circuit traffic at a few airports.

In each of the previous events, security was handled from a national management structure based in Ottawa. It has been decided for the 2010 Olympics that security will be managed at the regional level.

An aviation security task force has been established under the regional Transport Canada office, led by the Director of Civil Aviation, Dave Nowzek. COPA is represented on one of the working groups by B.C. and Yukon Director Terry Wilshire, assisted by Ken Armstrong, also a B.C. and Yukon Director.

In addition, Hardy Staub, a long-time COPA member with considerable experience in many sectors of aviation, leads a general aviation cluster within the British Columbia Aviation Council (BCAC), who will also assist in the planning.

At the national level, a NOTAM working group, whose role is to help develop NOTAMs for major events, was formed by the RCMP (lead government agency for security for major events) following a recommendation by COPA President Kevin Psutka.

This group, which includes representatives from COPA, the other major national Associations as well as the industry and the government, will augment the regional management group with their expertise from the previous national events.

Most recently, the BCAC held its annual conference in Richmond and chose the theme of 2010 Olympics security. Briefings were conducted in order that everyone could appreciate the scope of the planning exercise.

Experts from the Salt Lake Olympics highlighted issues and lessons learned. Foremost on the list of lessons learned was the need to have the plan ready for execution and information disseminated to the public no later than one year prior to the Olympics. This backs up COPA’s long-standing concern from previous events, and was emphasized in an impassioned speech by Hardy Staub at the BCAC conference, that the authorities have to give adequate notice so that it can be assured that everyone who will be affected by the restrictions are aware of and understands them, and has adequate time to plan so as to minimize the impact on their aviation activity.

The planning groups have their work cut out for them. If the plan is to be in place by January 2009, and judging by the issues that were raised at the BCAC conference, there is relatively little time remaining.

It is unknown at this early stage how, and for how long personal aviation will be affected but, based on the previous events and the continuing perceived threat that small aircraft pose, we can expect considerable restrictions on our sector of aviation.

COPA is positioned well, both at the national and regional level, to provide input to the authorities and participate in the development and dissemination of information.

Our goal is to be part of the solution. For example, whether or not we are permitted to fly, owners and pilots in the Vancouver area will have a major role to play in watching over our airports and aircraft, and we will be pushing for a mechanism for reporting suspicious activity. 

We will also suggest the use of our pilots and aircraft to assist in surveillance and system testing as was successfully done by the Civil Air Patrol at Salt Lake at considerable cost savings for the security authorities.

The Vancouver Olympic Committee wants the world to see Canada in the best possible light. So does COPA. One of the lights that we would like to shine is our freedom to fly; something that is cherished here and unattainable in some other countries.

With that in mind, your representatives in the planning effort will do their best to safeguard the interests of our COPA members and personal aviation at every opportunity. We will ensure that any security measures that are contemplated are practical, necessary and take into full consideration the impact they will have on personal aviation.