--- In BATN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "8/3 SMCo. Times" <batn@xxxx> wrote: Published Tuesday, August 3, 2004, in the San Mateo County Times Airports buoyed by security buffer Waters around airports more secure By Sean Holstege If low tide doesn't stop the terrorists, various marine patrols on the Bay will. At midnight, new security zones took effect in the waters surrounding San Francisco and Oakland international airports, an effort to stop terrorists or anybody else getting within 200 yards of an airstrip. The permanent security zones, marked by red-and-white buoys, became official just in time to be tested in a national terrorism drill that will take place Thursday. Called "Determined Promise '04," the Bay Area will respond to hypothetical terrorist attacks at SFO and Oakland International Airport. One airport will face a marine assault, the other a hijacking. The airports join the select ranks of New York's John F. Kennedy International and Newark Liberty International as the only airports in the nation protected by permanent security zones. Temporary 2,000-yard zones were established immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, then scaled back to 1,000 yards in 2002, before they lapsed. Carol DiBattiste, acting deputy director at the Transportation Security Administration, credited the Bay Area as "leaders" in the nation, pointing out that other regions are trying to establish airport security zones. Asked why only four airports have such protections as the three-year anniversary of the attacks nears, she said only, "it's an ongoing process." Starting today, a wayward boater who strays into the new zones faces a $32,500 civil fine, or a $250,000 fine and a maximum six-year prison term if prosecutors can establish criminal intent. The new zones augment those around the Bay Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge, Coast Guard Island and Concord Naval Weapons Station. Temporary zones are established around naval vessels and fuel or chemical tankers when they are loading or unloading cargo. Waters off the airports are patrolled by the Alameda County Sheriff Department's "unsinkable" gunboat and two Aquatrax donated by the manufacturer Honda. San Francisco Fire Department boats, Coast Guard patrols and Oakland Police Department helicopters all patrol the airport security zones. Six weeks ago, the security system worked like a charm. A Southwest Airlines pilot landing at Oakland complained to air traffic controllers in the tower that a boater was blinding inbound flight crews with a searchlight. The OPD helicopter arrived within minutes and ordered the four fishermen away from the shallows south of the runway. After they refused, the county's gunboat, already on the water, motored to the scene. The crew boarded the boat and found a gun, unlicensed to any of the recreational fishermen. Within 15 minutes, sheriff's deputies and officers from San Leandro Police Department were on the dock at San Leandro Marina, ready to take statements. It turned out the four fishermen lost track of time and didn't have the equipment to navigate home in the dark. They used the searchlight to find markers in the water, with inbound planes just 350 feet overhead. A week after 9/11, a man in a Zodiac boat got too close to SFO, but it turned out to be harmless. SFO security officials said today the response would be quicker. Had either boat been piloted by terrorists armed with MANPADs -- shoulder-fired, heat-seeking rockets -- the story would have turned out much worse. Such a device was fired at, but missed, an Israeli jetliner from Kenya in late 2002. "These zones are not designed for MANPADs, but to keep recreational boaters out," said Coast Guard Rear Adm. Kevin Eldridge. That's because MANPADs can hit a plane below 5,000 feet within 3 miles, making most of the urban Bay Area a potential launch site. [BATN all the more reason to declare region-wide martial law!] Plus, recreational boaters have little need to be in the waters off the airports, which can get as shallow as 1 foot in low tide. Authorities at SFO use cameras to help keep an eye on its six miles of shoreline, while at Oakland International, roving truck patrols watch from the 12-mile-long shore, while random sheriff's patrols ply the waters. Contact Sean Holstege at sholstege@xxxx --- End forwarded message ---