Super Secret: 12 U.S. Banning Places

You probably know or surmise that planes cannot fly close to the White House and the Capitol, but not everyone knows that flights are also prohibited over Mount Vernon and Disney World?

No-fly zones are primarily a security measure, says Reader's Digest. Such zones prohibit aircraft from approaching certain places in order to deter or at least identify potentially hostile aircraft.

How does a place become a no-fly zone? "There's no one-size-fits-all process for this," explains Daniel Burnham, flight expert at Scott's Cheap Flights. The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), which regulates American airspace, can create no-fly zones, but that's not the only way to designate them. Sometimes no-fly zones arise due to executive orders or acts of Congress. Most (but not all) no-fly zones in the United States have some kind of military or government association. Most of them are also places that you can visit without flying, but there are also places that are prohibited from visiting.

This does not mean that planes can never fly over these places. As Burnham explains, many of these zones limit aircraft flight to an altitude of 3000 feet (just over 900 meters) or some other altitude. So this means that "passenger aircraft flying at cruising altitude will rarely be affected by these provisions" as they fly much higher. “The FAA regulation states that a minimum altitude of 3000 feet is appropriate for the U.S. Navy to be able to easily identify and shoot down incoming enemy aircraft,” Burnham says.

Here are places that you cannot approach on an airplane.

Washington, DC

It makes sense to make the capital of the country, where the president, members of Congress and government centers live, a useless zone. There is a "Special Flight Regulations Area" that covers a 30-mile radius (48 km) around Ronald Reagan International Airport. That is why the airport is famous for the most “nervous” takeoffs and landings in the United States. Pilots have to carefully maneuver around no-fly zones, sometimes veering off and creating a somewhat awkward takeoff for passengers. And the proceedings in the event that someone violates the no-fly zone will not be a joke. In 2005, a student pilot accidentally turned into a no-fly zone, forcing an emergency evacuation of the entire Capitol.

Camp david

Another presidential residence joins the list of no-fly zones: Camp David in Maryland. Prohibited areas like this are designated by the letter P - prohibited, followed by a number; Camp David is a P-40. The area designated P-40 has a radius of 3 nautical miles (5,5 km). The ban is always in effect, but when the president visits the residence, the no-fly zone is expanded by temporarily limiting flights to 10 nautical miles (18,5 km).

On the subject: California has a list of states prohibited for travel: it has 11 US regions

Zone 51

This notorious military base, which in 2019 was planned to storm crowds in the hope of seeing aliens, is a no-fly zone, like some other military installations. The only flights permitted to fly to the 51 Zone must be operated from a specific terminal at a specific airport (McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas). Aircraft must use the Janet call sign to obtain permission to enter airspace.

Disneyland and Disney World

Yes, both Disney parks in the United States are protected by no-fly zones - Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California. They were included in a major Congressional safety act passed in 2003. Disney World didn't want the low-flying plane to scare Animal Kingdom's fauna. In addition, besides security reasons, there is another reason for creating no-fly zones here. During the 1980s and '90s, Disney visitors were bombarded with aerial advertisements, including religious and political messages and advertisements from competitors such as SeaWorld, flying over their parks. A no-fly zone is the perfect way to keep it all away.

Submarine base kings bay

Naval Station St. Mary's, Georgia is the only place on the East Coast where you'll find Ohio-class submarines. Its no-fly zone, P-50, was established in late 2005. “Most of these no-go zones are created in response to a request from a special interest group,” Burnham explains. Often these are American military branches.

Kitsap Naval Base

Across the continental United States, Naval Station Kitsap was created in 2004 through the merger of two separate bases located in Elliott Bay and Seattle. The largest installation in the northwest houses surface ships, submarines and ballistic missiles. This no-fly zone is P-51, which can be a little confusing because you'd expect it to be, well, Area 51.

Pantex nuclear plant

This site, located northeast of Amarillo, Texas, is exactly what it sounds like - a nuclear weapons production site (though new ones haven't been made here since 1991). Pantex also dismantles missiles and monitors existing ones. It's one of several sites run by the National Nuclear Security Administration, but it's actually the only one of its kind with a no-fly zone.

On the subject: The most mysterious places on the planet, where tourists are denied entry

Mount vernon

This is one of the few places to stay on the list (along with Disney parks). The home of George Washington, which is a national historical monument, is known as the "P-73." Therefore, despite the fact that it is located in northern Virginia, it is actually separated from the restricted area around Washington, which is P-56. Even potential photographers are not exempt from the flight ban; the site says that aerial photography is "rarely allowed." Although visitors can still photograph Mount Vernon, there are many places that prohibit this.

Фото: Depositphotos

Kennedy Space Center

Real spaceships take off from this place on Cape Canaveral, Florida (yes, even today!). It is easy to see why the government does not want commercial airlines flying nearby.

Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness

This beautiful site, comprising over a million acres in Minnesota, was designated a no-fly zone back in 1949. President Harry Truman signed the executive order, another way the site could become a no-fly zone. It's surprising that national parks don't receive no-fly protection. But this is one of the few purely recreational areas where flying is prohibited. And as part of the Minnesota National Forest, which in turn is part of the US National Forest System, it still has government protection.

Bush Family Ranch

This “Western White House,” also known as the Prairie Chapel Ranch, was acquired by George W. Bush in the late 1990's. He and his wife Laura completed the construction of the house in 2001, and since then it has been a popular holiday destination. The house is located near Crawford, Texas, and was visited by many famous guests, including senior foreigners. A few years ago, the restricted area around the Bush family ranch was violated; it turned out that the restricted area, P-49, was slightly expanded with a flight time limit. An unsuspecting pilot was forced to land at the nearby Waco Airport, wait 90 minutes and pass an interview with the secret service.

Other restrictions

This list of places is far from exhaustive.

“In addition to these permanent facilities, the FAA imposes temporary no-fly zones around major sporting event sites and various military bases during exercises,” Burnham said. And these temporary flight restrictions are actually quite frequent, there can even be several of them in one day.

A new player making no-fly zones more difficult? Drones and their growing popularity. The FAA is trying to control these unmanned objects and where they can and cannot fly. Traditional no-fly zones “are intended for commercial and private aircraft; drones face much greater restrictions on where they can fly, Burnham explains. “In general, drones are prohibited from flying over a broader range of military installations, federal prisons, nuclear test sites, airports, and specific national monuments, especially those containing critical infrastructure such as the Hoover Dam.”

Finally, states, counties, and cities can also enact their own legislation restricting the use of drones, and these restrictions can vary greatly by region.

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