Statue Of Liberty Trike Flight - Final Analysis
Its official.
The NYC Flight Standards Office advised Barry Maggio today that
the matter is officially put to rest and that he did not do
anything wrong.
The park police did not know the new rules regarding altitudes
for trikes that took effect on April 2, 2010. This rule allows
trikes to fly like helicopters essentially something airplanes
cannot do. Park police confirmed to FAA that Barry never flew
over any land and indeed was over water always which means he
possibly could not be 150 feet from Statue of Liberty. Park
police has been made aware of the new rules now.
AOPA and EAA should correct there mistakes of blaming the pilot
before investigation was resolved. Unprofessional show from those
organizations.
Abid
http://www.evolutiontrikes.com
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13 Comments
The simple lesson here is that following a sensational story by a WSJ reporter by orgs like EAA and AOPA is what created the impression that Barry did something wrong and people jumped to conclusions.
We expect more out of EAA and AOPA aviation journalists but some of them are "lazy" and just re-hash words from others (WSJ) instead of verifying facts.
So Spencer, now that the official FAA has cleared the matter up, put the blame obviously squarely at the untrained Park police employee in reporting a falsehood (150 foot), can we see the censored video that was completely legal?
http://www.eaa.org/news/2010/2010-06-24_trike_flight.asp
I think Barry's flight was cool... wish I had the time or ability to do the same! I'm not sure how I've become lumped into this discussion even?
I don't ever censor anything here, unless it is someone who whines to me about women trying to befriend them when they join as members. If you or anyone has a video, by all means, post it up... the more the merrier! ;-)
Spence
Statue of Liberty Trike Flight Ruled Within Bounds
By Dan Grunloh, Editor Light Plane World
Barry Maggio’s photo of Lady Liberty
June 24, 2010 — Certificated pilot Barry Maggio was informed by the New York Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) that the investigation of his flight in his N-numbered S-LSA Apollo Monsoon trike near the Statue of Liberty early on the morning of May 31 is closed. An alarm was raised by park officials who contacted the FAA with a report that “An ultralight buzzed the Statue of Liberty.” The claimed distance of 150 feet widely reported in the media was soon refuted by the continuous on-board video Maggio made of his flight.
An NYPD helicopter sent by the FAA pulled alongside Maggio’s trike near the George Washington Bridge during his return flight north and the pilot called on the Hudson VFR corridor frequency asking Barry where he was going and how much fuel he had on board. After answering the question, Maggio was told, “We need to talk.” They agreed to fly 14 miles north to Westchester County Airport. The control tower closed one of its runways for 20 minutes for the interview with the police.
After checking his credentials, viewing his videos, and consulting with the FAA, the police determined Maggio was not a terrorist, permitting him to continue his flight up the Hudson River. Erroneous news stories about the flight were promulgated because of a casual statement Maggio made by Barry in an interview in which he stated, “I haven’t lived here in a while but I guess I didn’t realize that security was that tight.” He added that Security is “obviously different in the city here, in Lower Manhattan, and I didn’t take that into account.”
Many interpreted this to mean he had not been properly briefed prior to the flight and that he had committed some kind of airspace violation. Nothing could be further from the truth. Maggio had attended the special training seminar for users of the New York City Class B Hudson River exclusion zone special flight rules area (SFRA) along with 60 other pilots. Even more important, he was aware and understood the recent changes to FAR 91.119, which granted weight-shift trikes and powered parachutes the same minimum altitude requirements as helicopters when flying in undeveloped areas - including the waters of the Hudson River under the SFRA area. The FAA has now stated that Barry broke no regulations. He was flying in the same airspace used routinely by helicopters giving scenic rides to the Statue of Liberty.
The incident can be attributed to park officials who were not aware the change in regulations for minimum safe altitudes had taken effect, but we shouldn’t be too hard on them. Everyone in this story did the right thing excluding perhaps the media who rushed to report a sensational news story. The park officials saw what looked like a suspicious ultralight early on a holiday morning near the statue and made a report. The NYPD investigated the incident politely and with professionalism. The pilot did everything that was required, and now the FAA has laid the case to rest. Watch for the upcoming July issue of Light Plane World for more photos and a detailed account of “Barry Maggio’s Rendezvous with Lady Liberty.”
Editor’s Note: EAA published a story regarding Mr. Maggio’s flight in the June 4, 2010, edition of e-Hotline. At the time of the publication we referenced a story published by the Wall Street Journal including a quote by Mr. Maggio. We took Mr. Maggio’s own quoted words at face value when considering the story’s merits. The decision to publish the story was made as a caution to all pilots that we have a responsibility to operate our aircraft legally and with an eye toward prudence. We regret if EAA’s story did not communicate this intent.
The video was removed from this website. I assumed that only moderators or posters can remove the video. Is that not correct
I would like to see that video back.
Barry submitted that video. He does not think he deleted it but you know Barry and computers run away from each other so who knows.
If you can find it under Barry Maggio's account re-post it man. Its a bit historic in some sense.
Abid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78cMdDzn7Wo&playnext_from=TL&videos=k81NK1hKjgs
Daniel
Yes actually this video on You Tube was edited by Wes Frey at our hanger. This is not the same raw video that Barry had posted here which got deleted but it is a nice one too.
Abid
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