Border Force urges vigilance at GA airfields

A new Project Pegasus campaign has been launched across the country today. This is the joint Border Force, National Crime Agency and Police initiative to increase vigilance in and around the UK’s airfields.

It follows last month’s spot checks at GA airfields by the CAA and UK Border Force, and a case of a pilot being arrested for people smuggling by light aircraft.

This is what the Border Force agency says:

Border crime causes immense harm to the UK, whether it is the smuggling of people, drugs or firearms, or terrorism related.

There are tens of thousands of light aircraft, helicopters and microlights in the UK, flying in and out of small airfields across the country every day.

Because not every plane and airstrip can be monitored 24 hours a day, the aviation community can play a vital role in preventing border crime and maintaining a safe community.

1 What to report
You should report any unusual or suspicious activity at a UK airfield immediately. This could include:

• attempts to test or research security around an airfield
• suspicious deliveries
• people in the wrong place or behaving oddly
• unusual presence of aircraft
• an aircraft that has been unusually modified
• a pilot being evasive about passengers, flights or routes
• a pilot ignoring aviation regulations or filing misleading or false general aviation reports or flight plans
• any concealed cargo
• packages being dropped from low-flying aircraft
• items being handled suspiciously.

2 How to report suspicious activity
If you do see anything suspicious, you can report this anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or on their website. Alternatively, call your local police on 101 and quote ‘Pegasus’.

3 If you are working at a UK airfield
You can download the Pegasus pack here to share posters, social media images and more.

Project Pegasus