I saw an ABCTV news segment yesterday regarding some hobbyists who had been arrested in an hotel near an airport in INDIA for using scanners to monitor aircraft. It showed about four or five middle aged men who had, it claimed, traveled to India, presumably from the UK, to monitor air traffic as a hobby. They were being carted off by police with a crowd of what appeared to be angry bystanders following and put in jail to face charges....wait for it.... ESPIONAGE!
The news segment then covered another group of middle aged men who it claimed were also monitoring and taking pictures of aircraft in Greece some time back. They were jailed for 6 weeks and fined!
At the beginning of the segment, it showed more middle aged men near an airport in England (might have been Gatwick) with telescopes cameras and scanners. The legality of what they were doing was discussed and that one said that if they checked with security first, it was OK, but they were not allowed to go into any of the airport buildings with a scanner, so they were at locations near the runways.
Basically these guys are hobbyists and there are plenty of them here in Australia. There are forums for plane spotters to discuss and posts pictures of aircraft....this is one link here: http://www.jetspotter.com/forum/phpBB3/
The worst case scenario would be for some one here to perceive that what these plane spotters are doing is illegal as well....just because the Indians and the Greeks think so.
My inquiries indicate that in Australia, it is currently legal to monitor the VHF Airband in the privacy of your own home. It is also legal here to photograph aircraft in areas near an airport. I do not know how you'd stand if you were viewed by the AFP or other airport staff swanning around an airport terminal with a scanner blasting away on your person. I think at the very least, you would be told to quietly piss of and don't come back.
Going back to the Greece and Indian thing, I guess they must have viewed these guys as possible terrorists. That being so, I do not have much faith in the training, skill and attitude of those employed in the security field in these countries if they can't tell the difference between an aviation hobbyist and a spy or suspect terrorists!
If a terrorist was going to spy on airports, I'm pretty sure he or she would gather information covertly and not be so obvious.
I've taken my scanner into Brissy, Sydney, Melbourne Cooly and Sunny Coast airports but as usual when im out in public I wear an earpiece so its not blasting out, having said this when I bent over,my shirt came above my belt and the scanner became visible in front of AFP officers and they didnt say a word to me. I do remember a story years ago where a bunch of plane spotters who were camped out on a fence line waiting for a new plane to be released for its first time (cant remember which one) and they actually got arrested on spy and terrorism charges but it got quashed so they charged them with parking within a certain distance of the airport fence (which is 5 metres at GC airport - that five metres means you legally can't park on the road on the airport side :sc)
There is no law against you using scanners in or around airports.
You can use scanners in the terminals and even on board aircraft.
The only thing is that if someone sees you be prepared to be asked a few questions
only due to the fact that the sensitivity in and around airports are hightened and the fed may want to ask you a few questions to find out who you are and why you have the scanner operating in the vacinity of the airport
orangepeel wrote:There is no law against you using scanners in or around airports.
You can use scanners in the terminals and even on board aircraft.
The only thing is that if someone sees you be prepared to be asked a few questions
only due to the fact that the sensitivity in and around airports are hightened and the fed may want to ask you a few questions to find out who you are and why you have the scanner operating in the vacinity of the airport
OP That's a very optimistic view of it IMO. Yes I agree that it is legal...but not acceptable by some air carriers for you to bring into the cabin or use a scanner whilst in flight. I can think of a couple like Etihad and Emirates for a start who would almost certainly have such conditions.
As far as the security at airports here in Australia goes, I personally wouldn't be overtly using a scanner in a terminal. Yes it is legal to do so, BUT they can ask you questions and some security are what I'd describe as over zealous and they can ruin your day.
I read of a case some while back about people being prevented from taking a scanning receiver into an Australian air display by such overzealous use of authority.
In this day and age its best to err on the side of discretion.
One thing you have to remember are that Airports are NOT public land and you must abide their rules
in saying that some airports do have viewing areas, Brisbane for one at the end of Acacia St at the general aviation end of the airport
always people there with cameras and scanners
One place not many people get to visit at Brisbane is the NE end of the runway
it used to be the middle of the sewage plant solids drying fields, I was fortunate(or unfortunate if you've ever smelt it) to have been there many times delivering fuel. only 300 metres from the end of the runway. close enough to feel the compressed air from the wings and the jet wash as they came in to land
