- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The
skies above New Year's Eve revelers in New York and some other major U.S.
cities will be off-limits to certain aircraft and patrolled by warplanes
as part of increased vigilance for terror attacks, the Department of Homeland
Security said on Tuesday.
-
- Nine days after raising the nation's terror alert to
its second highest level due to heightened fear of attack, the government
said temporary flight restrictions, or TFRs, would be in place over Las
Vegas, New York City, Washington and downtown Chicago.
-
- "We granted requests for TFRs ... over (some) areas
for New Year's Eve," department spokeswoman Rachael Sunbarger said.
-
- The temporary flight restrictions, which apply to chartered
flights and smaller leisure aircraft, but not to commercial flights, pertain
to Las Vegas and New York City specifically during the New Year's holiday.
-
- New York City's Times Square and the Strip in Las Vegas
are two of the more popular sites for New Year's Eve celebrations, as hundreds
of thousands of people cram into the area to ring in the New Year.
-
- Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has said the government
would beef up security around large gatherings which are viewed as potential
terror targets.
-
- Flights over downtown Chicago have been restricted under
a "code orange TFR" since Dec. 24, and there have been restrictions
over Washington's airspace in place since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
-
- Flight restrictions will also be implemented for most
holiday football bowl games, including the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California,
on New Year's Day and the giant parade that precedes it, Sunbarger said.
-
- Homeland Security approves the restrictions, which are
enforced by the Federal Aviation Administration.
-
- MILITARY PATROLS
-
- The United States blames Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda organization
for the deaths of nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001, when hijacked
planes slammed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in
Pennsylvania.
-
- Ridge, who announced on Monday his department had ordered
foreign airlines to put armed marshals on selected flights to and from
the United States, said military aircraft would also patrol U.S. skies.
-
- "We will have in play ... not only temporary flight
restrictions over cities but we will have aviation patrolling the skies
and on alert," Ridge said on CBS's "Early Show."
-
- "There's going to be security in the ground, there's
going to be security in the air," Ridge told NBC's "Today"
show.
-
- Warplanes are often on patrol or on standby in key areas
of the country, like the eastern corridor from New York to Washington,
when the alert level is raised to orange. Ridge said on Monday planes would
be ready to respond almost instantaneously if needed.
-
- Homeland Security, which on Dec. 21 raised its terror
alert to the second highest level -- orange or a "high" risk
of attack -- has said it is concerned about al Qaeda's desire to attack
commercial airlines in the United States.
-
- The government has routinely used flight restrictions
since the 2001 attacks, especially in areas President Bush is visiting.
Restrictions are often put in place during major sporting events or at
times of heightened security alert over places like Disneyland where large
crowds gather.
-
- Last week, six Air France flights between Paris and Los
Angeles were canceled based on security concerns expressed by U.S. intelligence.
French authorities detained 13 people who had been booked on the flights
but released them after finding no links to radical groups.
-
- Britain, France, Israel and Mexico are among the countries
that have said they would put armed officials on flights if the United
States requests it.
-
- additional reporting by Chris Baltimore
-
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