National air safety initiative introduced in Oshkosh

(OSHKOSH) Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was in Wisconsin Monday to launch a new air safety initiative.

Secretary Napolitano stopped at the Experimental Air Association's Air Venture air show in Oshkosh to hold a news conference on a new program dubbed "If You See Something, Say Something”. The goal is to encourage general aviation passengers and airline crews to better report behaviors and indicators of the threat of air terrorism.

In the coming months, the Department of Homeland Security will be releasing television and radio ads and distributing public education materials about how to report suspicious activity to the proper law enforcement authorities.

Dick Knapinski, spokesman of the Experimental Aircraft Association, says Napolitano made her announcement in Oshkosh because “the entire aviation audience” is at the EAA event.

There are plenty of exhibits about air safety at the air show this year. But Knapinski says ticket sales are up this year mostly because people want to see the latest innovations in air travel, including a helicopter fueled by hydrogen peroxide, and a man in a cluster balloon.

The EAA Air Venture runs the entire week at the Association’s Exhibition Park in Oshkosh.

Tags: news, wisconsin, aircraft, aviation