Incident at Trenton-Mercer Airport - 1/31/2013
Today, I went out to my local airport, Trenton-Mercer, to catch the water cannon salute for Frontier's new service to 4 additional cities. Shortly after I got to my normal spot next to the terminal, an officer based at the airport approached me. After I identified myself as an aviation photojournalist, he informed me that I was not allowed to take pictures without the prior approval of the airport administration. I told the officer that I did have permission, but cited the airport manager who apparently was recently replaced with a new manager. The officer then stated that I would need permission from the new manager, and I could do that, or he could run my ID. I told him that I didn't think I even needed permission for photographing from a public area, and apparently I should have just marched straight into the admin building, because he cut me off as I was speaking, and immediately asked for my ID. He told me it was county property and there were FAA laws against photographing airplanes. While I'm a little fuzzy on the public airport/area/county property portion, I know the "FAA laws" part was made up.
He ran my ID against various databases, telling the dispatcher that I was at the airport "fenceline" with a "zoom lens" (if you've ever been to TTN, that sounds much worse than what it was...I was in plain sight, in an area with picnic benches, and with not one, but two fences separating me from the field). As we were waiting for the results, the Frontier flight arrived, and I couldn't do a thing. I told the officer I had been photographing from that spot for over 15 years, and he said "well, I've been here for 7 years, and I've never seen you here". When the ID check finally came back clean (shocking), I went into the admin office, where I ran into a nice gentlemen I've spoken to before. He asked if I was just where I normally photograph from, and when I affirmed, he said it was fine. He also gave me a location from within the airport to try to get the water cannon salute, but the glass was tinted, and it was too late. I tried to photograph the departure taxi, but it was cloudy by that time.
I noted the officer's name, and am considering bringing this up with someone, so I don't continue to get treated like a criminal every time a new officer sees me taking pictures at TTN. This is probably the fourth time I've had something similar happen, and the other times, I had the current administration's blessing, but some of the officers still questioned me and ran my ID. And since I normally go to the airport during my lunch hour (and arrive just as the plane I want to photograph is arriving), in the 5-15 minutes an officer questions me, I will normally miss what I went for. All this for silly Frontier A319s, and at the airport I have supported and promoted for over a decade.
