The Federal Aviation Administration has banned at least 10 flights from touching down in St. Louis, diverting the planes to other area ports due to gunshots that were fired into the sky during Ferguson protests.
The FAA has also roped off a three-mile area over the Ferguson site where the shooting occurred and declared it a no-fly zone, the Daily Mail reported.
Only law enforcement can now enter this sky area, due to safety reasons, the news outlet said. The FAA said it was only trying to maintain a safe area for police aircraft to operate, given the hundreds of gunshots that have rocked the Ferguson area in recent hours, the Daily mail said.
This isn’t the first time a no-fly zone was declared over Ferguson. On Aug. 12, a 37-square mile patch of sky was deemed off-limits to plane travel because of concerns about police safety — but shortly after, audio recordings revealed the real reason for that no-fly was to keep out the media’s helicopters, the Daily Mail said.
“They finally admitted it really was to keep the media out,” one FAA manager said about the St. Louis County Police, after a series of telephone conversations obtained by The Associated Press revealed law enforcement’s motive against the press, the Daily mail said.
Now social media is starting to wonder if this current no-fly is due to the same reason — to rein in the press, the Daily Mail reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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