The Buzzing of Fort St. Vrain

[ProRadCon@AOL.COM]

A follow-up to Chuck Cooper's notice - FYI-FAA Bans aircraft near Nucs:


Yesterday morning (Wednesday, October 31), two F-16s shot out of Buckley AFB in Aurora, CO in pursuit of a small, low-flying aircraft that was heading into Fort St. Vrain Generating Station's 'no-fly' zone.  They were not able to establish initial contact by radio; consequently, the small Cessna 152, which was piloted by an instructor/student pair, received an honorary military escort back to The Fort Collins Downtown Airport.  Turns out that the pilots were not faulted because they had no prior knowledge and were not briefed on the St. Vrain 'no-fly' zone before take-off.  The airport will be expected to answer to the FAA on the issue.


One citizen in Milliken, CO who happened to be a former Air Force mechanic, witnessed the intercept directly overhead.  His words were "Wow, we're really in a war."


Although Fort St. Vrain now runs on natural gas, it still has some fuel on site, sources say.  This is why it's on the list.




Shane Brightwell, MS, CHP

President

Professional Radiation Consulting, Inc.

4192 Lookout Drive

Loveland, Colorado 80537-3596

Office: (970) 203-0195

Mobile: (970) 481-5302

Fax:    (720) 294-1153

e-mail:     proradcon@aol.com