Rescued/Burned boys Helicopter delayed due to Obama's Buddies Golf Weekend NO FLY order.

Firefighters save boy from burning home in Fort Pierce


This is unfortunate but probably necessary for Presidential security...and on Presidents Day no less.
Curious to see if it gets reported beyond the local papers because it is awkward for the President. Wondering if he should get in front of the story by acknowledging and explaining or at least inquiring about the condition of the kid at some point.

FORT PIERCE, Fla. —Three people were burned in a house fire in Fort Pierce, including a young boy who was pulled to safety by firefighters.

...an 8-year-old boy... still unaccounted for, and upon hearing his cries for help, firemen had to break a window to get inside the home. They found the boy, then had to use a hose to battle their way out of the house, WPBF 25 News' Cathleen O'Toole reported.

Of course I hope for the victims full recovery and this young boy in particular.

There was a house fire and victims air ambulance were delayed because of a NO FLY order for the Presidents Golf Buddies Weekend visit here in FL. I know from local news reports it was the young boy's helicopter delayed because it couldn't get clearance to fly. It was only a 10 minutes wait but local news people say that when you are a burned 8 year old boy in need of critical care 10 minutes is a long time.

The link above is from the news story reporting the fire and an excerpt is below,

Andrews' 72-year-old grandmother was flown by helicopter to Orlando Regional Hospital, and the 8-year-old boy was flown to Arnold Palmer Medical Center, also in Orlando.

One of those helicopter departures was delayed because of the no-fly issue in place due to President Barack Obama's visit to town this weekend.

Both of those victims are in critical condition, O'Toole reported. Another man was treated at the scene and then taken to Lawnwood Regional Medical Center. His identity and condition were not immediately available. Read more: www.wpbf.com... #ixzz2LIAR62Bn

EDIT/ Just heard an update; the boy is well enough to speak to medics and is expected to recover.

They are not "no-ffly" zones. They are called TFRs, for Temporary Flight Restrictions. And to quote the verbiage of this TFR, the TFR ..."does not apply to air ambulance flights..." So it appears that we have an idiot helicopter pilot. who can't read.

Originally posted by F4guy
They are not "no-ffly" zones. They are called TFRs, for Temporary Flight Restrictions. And to quote the verbiage of this TFR, the TFR ..."does not apply to air ambulance flights..." So it appears that we have an idiot helicopter pilot. who can't read.

watt id u saee? aye rzembl dat remork

Originally posted by F4guy
They are not "no-ffly" zones. They are called TFRs, for Temporary Flight Restrictions. And to quote the verbiage of this TFR, the TFR ..."does not apply to air ambulance flights..." So it appears that we have an idiot helicopter pilot. who can't read.

It was reported a number of times, a few places, not as TFR's but as "no fly zones" designated for this Presidential golf weekend and a few private planes were re-routed and forced to land in nearby airports by fighter jets. Here is another source using the same terminology: Maybe they are all idiots and none of these guys knows the vernacular. I think they were not cleared for takeoff no matter what they called it.

3 Planes break No Fly Zone on Obama's vacation

PALM CITY, Fla. (AP) — Federal Aviation Administration officials say they're investigating three more apparent breaches of the no-fly zone above President Barack Obama's vacation spot along Florida's Atlantic coastline.
According to the FAA, a Lancair 320 allegedly entered the temporarily restricted airspace Saturday afternoon.Two F-16 military jets escorted a small plane away from the no-fly zone over Palm City

It took 10 minutes to get the no fly zone lifted for the flight.

You would think that they would have a hotline and credentials in place for such situations.

Someone screwed up... Not sure who.

reply to post by newcovenant


Most reporters couldn't tell the difference.

In the case of Presidential movement, the TFR is usually comprised of an outer ring (usually 30 nautical miles, but sometimes slightly more or less) and one or more inner rings (usually 10 nautical miles, but sometimes 8, 9, or 10 nautical miles). The dimensions and, even the shape, of the rings are sometimes altered to suit specific needs. For example, some TFRs are structured so that the outer ring consists of the lateral limits of a particular airport’s Class B airspace, or are created with cut-outs, as noted later in this resource.

The inner ring(s) constitute the most significant challenge to general and business aviation, since they are almost always inaccessible to general aviation aircraft. This is primarily due to the fact that general aviation aircraft are not subject to TSA passenger and aircraft screening.

The result is that GA aircraft cannot fly through these areas below 18,000 feet and any airports within these areas are unavailable to GA aircraft during the specified times. In addition, these “no fly” areas may result in required reroutes being issued to move aircraft away from them.

There are occasional exceptions that will allow certain GA aircraft to penetrate the inner ring(s). In some cases, the USSS will agree to set up “gateway” airports, at which GA aircraft can be screened before proceeding into the TFR. In other cases, GA aircraft are permitted into the inner ring(s) only after obtaining TSA waivers, sometime used in combination with gateway airports. However, these exceptions are relatively rare and are normally made for TFRs that impact multiple airports for several days.

On other occasions, a TFR might be structured with a “cut-out” to allow operations into an airport that lies just inside the inner ring. This happens quite often for Teterboro Airport (TEB) when TFRs are placed over the New York City area. In these cases operators need to be aware that certain approaches and departures may not be available for the airport in the cut-out.

The outer ring(s) are much less problematic for general and business aviation. Between this outer limit and the inner ring(s), GA aircraft are permitted as long as they are on IFR flight plans and in communication with air traffic control. However, aircraft cannot loiter in this airspace and certain other types of activities, such as flight training, practice approaches, and sightseeing flights, are not permitted within this area.

www.nbaa.org...

It's not a "no fly zone" you're just restricted as to what you can do, and how you can do it while you're in that area.

Does anyone really think Obama - or any president, Secret Service agent, FBI guy or DHS for that matter - would hesitate to do whatever is possible to help this unfortunate child?

This is the fault of unyielding bureaucracy and no one person in particular.

What's also sad is that people have zero problems exploiting this child's pain for political digs. Sometimes I hate the internet.

Originally posted by kosmicjack
Does anyone really think Obama - or any president, Secret Service agent, FBI guy or DHS for that matter - would hesitate to do whatever is possible to help this unfortunate child?

This is the fault of unyielding bureaucracy and no one person in particular.

What's also sad is that people have zero problems exploiting this child's pain for political digs.

Sometimes I hate the internet.

Yeah, actually...me. I think they might have helped by letting the E-VAC get off the ground and the kid to the hospital instead of having them wait 10 minutes. They didn't do everything they could to save the child - they followed protocol. I wanted to get ahead of this story where Obama could be scandalized if anything happened to this kid. It would be another Benghazi for crying out loud. LOL

reply to post by Zaphod58


Got a few pilots I guess pointing that out. It's restricted area. Area where you no can fly in albeit temporarily. You guys probably call it restricted but everyone else including the reporters papers and the FAA call it a NO FLY zone until such time as it becomes an ALL FLY again zone. This is probably so the people reading the story can understand. It is a matter of very little, even no importance to me but thanks for clearing that up, in case I ever find myself listening to a air traffic controller and it comes up.

reply to post by newcovenant


But the problem is that the NOTAM showed that medical evacuation flights were allowed to fly through the area. Unless he's on Marine One, and moving, then medical evacuation flights, and certain other flights are exempted from the restricted airspace rules. If the medevac pilot had read the NOTAM properly he would have known that.