The Federal Aviation Administration has shut down the airspace over Ferguson, Missouri in a radius of 3 nautical miles beginning today and ending on August 18th. The official reason for the shutdown is “TO PROVIDE A SAFE ENVIRONMENT FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES” because of “Hazards” which consist of a police helicopter being shot at two nights ago on Sunday.

Shut down, in this case, means “No pilots may operate an aircraft in the areas covered by this NOTAM (except as described). ONLY RELIEF AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS UNDER DIRECTION OF ST.” This means that only authorized helicopters will be allowed within that three miles and that doesn’t include news helicopters.