Air Force fighter jets intercepted a civilian aircraft flying in the temporarily restricted airspace near President Donald Trump’s Florida home Sunday, bringing the number of violations to more than 20 since the president took office on Jan. 20.
North American Aerospace Defense Command said in a statement that Sunday’s incident, which took place as Trump finished a round of golf at his West Palm Beach golf course, saw F-16s deploy flares to get the attention of the civilian pilot. Jets also conducted an intercept on Saturday morning shortly after Mr. Trump arrived at the course from his private Mar-a-Lago club and residence.
The airspace intrusions in the heavily congested south Florida airspace have prompted fighter jet intercepts but did not alter Mr. Trump’s schedule or impact his security, officials said. NORAD says the flares may have been visible from the ground but that they burn out quickly and don’t pose danger.
Federal officials maintain a permanent flight restriction over Mr. Trump’s club that expands to a radius of 30 nautical miles when the president is in residence.
Violations, and intercepts, are relatively routine, but NORAD is raising alarm over the frequency of the intrusions since Mr. Trump’s inauguration, saying it has responded to more than 20 incidents and blames civilian pilots for not following regulations requiring them to check for airspace restrictions before taking off.
NORAD has urged aircrews to check Notice to Airmen, or NOTAMs, from the FAA before flying, “especially in the Mar-a-Lago region.” The FAA uses NOTAMs to inform pilots of temporary flight restrictions, which prohibit aircraft from entering certain airspaces for set periods of time. Restrictions are issued “for safety or security purposes,” including for natural disasters, some major sporting events and emergency or national security situations, the FAA says.
“Adherence to TFR procedures is essential to ensure flight safety, national security, and the security of the President,” Gen. Gregory Guillot, the commander of NORAD and US Northern Command said in a statement. “The procedures are not optional, and the excessive number of recent TFR violations indicates many civil aviators are not reading Notice to Airmen, or NOTAMS, before each flight as required by the FAA, and has resulted in multiple responses by NORAD fighter aircraft to guide offending aircraft out of the TFR.”
In 2017, during Mr. Trump’s first term as president, two F-15 fighter jets were scrambled to intercept an unresponsive aircraft near Mar-a-Lago and officials said the incident created a “sonic boom” that alarmed nearby residents.
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