Pope Francis Gets Presidential TFR Treatment | Aviation International News

Pope Francis Gets Presidential TFR Treatment

The size of the Temporary Flight Restrictions erected for Pope Francis’s visit to the U.S. raises questions: why such elevated security?

The relative size of the TFR for Pope Francis’s visit (left) is not only far larger than the construct in place the last time a pope visited the U.S. in 2008; it also compared with a recent TFR for vice president Joe Biden (right).

By Matt Thurber • Editor-in-Chief

September 24, 2015

In preparation for the visit of Pope Francis to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City, the U.S. government erected a massive Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) over the areas where he will be greeted by millions of people. The same as those used whenever President Obama travels or goes on vacation, the TFRs affect a number of airports and flight operations and seek to ground every drone and radio-control aircraft within a 30-mile radius and up to 17,999 feet. Likely reflecting growing concern about security for high-level visitors, the Pope Francis TFRs are far larger than the 2,999-foot, three-nautical-mile-radius TFRs that followed Pope Benedict in 2008, the last time a pope visited the U.S. before this tour by Pope Francis.

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