NORAD Intercepts Plane in Restricted Air Space Over Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club

The North American Aerospace Defense Command, better known as NORAD, scrambled F-16 fighter jets on Sunday after a small plane veered into restricted airspace over President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in West Palm Beach.

Trump was in Miami, Florida, for a Saudi-backed investment conference Friday night before flying to West Palm Beach, where he spent the weekend golfing.

Fox News’s Mark Meredith reported, “What happened earlier today was in the one o’clock hour, about 1:15, where NORAD said they dispatched F-16 fighter jets after a private aircraft entered what was considered a no-fly zone or a TFR, temporary restrictions near where the president was.”

“No matter where the president goes the FAA and Secret Service they create these areas where they don’t want any aircraft to be in,” Meredith continued.

What was more interesting in this case is NORAD says the F-16s when they got up next to that private plane, they had to dispatch flares to get the pilot’s attention. And you can imagine if you’re on the ground you would see those flares next to another aircraft it would certainly get some attention. I haven’t seen any video of that on the ground for people who may have seen it, but NORAD says if you were there and you did witness something around 1:00 today here in the south Florida area, that’s what it was.

This aircraft was quickly able to get out of the area that the restricted airspace was in. I talked to the Secret Service and they said at no point was there any threat to either the president, or Air Force One. And the reason I bring that up was earlier today if you were online there is a video that went viral of a woman on board a Delta plane and the pilot was speaking, and the pilot had said there had been some drones spotted near the president’s plane which is parked at Palm Beach International. That was not the case. Secret Service said that was a miscommunication, it was nothing to do with drones, and instead it was all in regard to this private aircraft that temporarily got into where this restriction airspace was where the president is.

Meredith said this wasn’t the first time a private plane had to be shooed out of presidential airspace.

“We have seen these violations before. T his is not a first time by any stretch,” Meredith said. “But flares being used to get the attention of the aircraft to get the person the heck out of there, you can only imagine what it’s like for that pilot. No indication who that person was but again, Secret Service say there is no threat to the president’s safety.”

Watch the clip above via Fox News.

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