The administration of US President George W. Bush backed off a proposal to restrict foreign air carriers from flying over the three Sept. 11 crash sites on the anniversary of the attacks, but still may ban small private planes from the New York City area for three days, officials said.
The Pentagon-proposed plan to restrict foreign-owned commercial and cargo aircraft from flying into and from New York and Washington and over Somerset County, Pennsylvania, was dropped Thursday following protests from the carriers and after an assessment by US officials that such a ban probably would be illegal, an official said.
But restrictions on so-called general aviation aircraft over New York from Sept. 11 to Sept. 13 were still being considered.
Small private plane owners and pilots were lobbying against the proposal, said Warren Morningstar, spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
The three-day flight ban over New York would prohibit news helicopters, corporate jets and small planes carrying packages and hospital patients from flying from 17 airports, he said.
Intelligence officials had pressured transportation regulators to consider restrictions on foreign flights, and federal regulators moved too quickly in discussing the plan with carriers, a government official said.
Various international treaties bar singling out foreign carriers, the official added.
Foreign carriers will not be treated any differently than domestic carriers on Sept. 11, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A Transportation Department official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, agreed with that assessment.
However, curbs on private planes and charter flights would be legal, the official said.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which formally implements final decisions on flight restrictions through a "notice to airmen," has yet to issue such a notice, said FAA spokesman Scott Brenner.
A meeting was to be held yesterday with government agencies to hash out the issues, but no timetable had been set, he said.
The International Air Transport Association, which represents US and foreign-owned airlines, had questioned why American-owned airlines were not included.
"If there are no restrictions on the US and foreign airlines, then we're obviously pleased that the FAA understood the importance and significance of treating US and foreign airlines equally," spokeswoman Wanda Warner said.
Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the White House Office of Homeland Security, said the government had no specific information suggesting events commem-orating Sept. 11 at those sites were terror targets. No firm decisions had been made on flight restrictions, he said.
The three attack sites will see temporary flight restrictions because Bush plans to visit each of them, and such restrictions follow him wherever he goes, the official said.
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