MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- Airline pilots departing from Miami International
Airport are getting an earful of something unexpected: Hip-hop tunes
from a pirate radio station that sometimes interfere with their
communications with the control tower.
The music comes on a pair of frequencies from a station that calls
itself Da Streetz.
"It's intermittent. Not all day, everyday," said Kathleen Bergen, a
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman. "But clear communication
between air control and the pilots is a critical part of flying."
Authorities traced the signals to an antenna at a nearby warehouse but
did not find the disc jockey, although they did confiscate equipment
including three computers and a CD player.
Despite that discovery and the seizures, the broadcasts have continued,
authorities said.
Pilots who pick up the broadcasts switch to a different frequency to
speak with air traffic controllers, Bergen said.
The FAA said it has conducted about 30 similar investigations of pirate
broadcasts interfering with airport transmissions in the past decade.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is helping with the
investigation under a state law that went into effect a year ago. The
law makes it a felony to interfere with signals from licensed public or
commercial stations, or to broadcast without a license.
Authorities said the owner of the warehouse had no idea the building was
being used by an illegal radio station.