How Safe Are The Skies Over The US?

With all of the security upgrades that have taken place in the US since the 9/11 event, Just how secure are our airports / aircraft / airways?
Not very if you take the story below into account.
A man has been arrested for "joy-riding" in a Cessna Citation 7. He was able to not only get to the aircraft (with five of his friends), he pried open the door of the Cessna then flew it 350 miles from Florida to Georgia, land and then walk away.
Man Arrested on Charges of Stealing Jet

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. Oct 12, 2005 — A man was arrested on charges of stealing a charter jet and taking it on a 350-mile joy ride from Florida to Georgia, police said Wednesday.
The circumstances of the theft were not clear, but nothing threatening was found on the plane, police spokesman Darren Moloney said. The incident "appears to be a joy ride."
Daniel Andrew Wolcott, 22, of Buford was charged with felony theft and misdemeanor reckless conduct, police said, adding that additional federal charges were expected.

We have spent billions of dollars since 9/11 trying to prevent such events from ever happening again. Where was the airport security at either airport / airfield? Why were there no flags raised when this Cessna shows up on multiple radar screens without a flight plan having been filed?
We were lucky this time, what is to stop a real terrorist from following in this guy's footsteps?

not safe enough. the only thing we can hope is that the terrorists are deterred that they may fail if shot down for nothing. or fear of resistance by the passengers.

I'm going to sum it up all in one little sentence if you guys don't mind. We are no safer now after 9-11 than we were before 9-11.

We have spent money to stop Commercial airliners, not Cessna's.

Unless we shut down the skies we can’t stop hundreds of thousands of Cessna's, privately owned, from taking off.

Originally posted by WestPoint23
Unless we shut down the skies we can’t stop hundreds of thousands of Cessna's, privately owned, from taking off.

Hmm, I didn't know about that. I though every plane are vulnerable to checks and stops from the authorities.

So there is a possibility that a terrorist could use any privately owned plane that he bought or steal and pack it with lots of explosive and go kamikaze on another U.S building right?

Well, I'd say at least you guys eliminated the commercial planes threat. Anyways, don't you guys have the Air Force to shoot it down if it is to be hijack?

Guys there is a huge differance between private and commerical parts of the airport.

As a ramper for a airline i know that the private side of the field is not regualted at all..while the commercial side of the field is heavily patroled and watched. not only that i carry no less then 3 ID badges that allow me to get where i need to be to do my job.

With that siad..I could amaze you all with the stuff we find on commercial aircraft..But dont even get me started on TSA

Coho