PALM BEACH, Fla. — The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is continuing to intercept aircraft violating the flight restrictions put in place over Palm Beach when President Donald Trump stays at his Mar-a-Lago home.
On Saturday, a NORAD F-16 fighter jet responded to a civilian aircraft that was violating the restrictions at around 8:50 a.m. and safely escorted the plane out of the area.
This interception comes less than a week after multiple general aviation planes violated the airspace over Palm Beach, prompting NORAD to dispense flares and guide the planes away from the airspace.
“NORAD and the FAA work closely together to keep the skies over America safe, with close attention paid to areas with Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR),’’ said Gen. Gregory Guillot, Commander, NORAD and US Northern Command, in a statement. “Adherence to TFR procedures is essential to ensure flight safety, national security, and the security of the President."
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Fighter jets respond to multiple airspace violations over Palm Beach March 1
According to NORAD, they have responded to over 20 tracks of interest in the Palm Beach area since Trump's presidential inauguration on Jan. 20.
"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," Guilllot wrote. "Should the pilot of an aircraft happen to find itself intercepted by one of fighters or helicopters, they should immediately come up on frequency 121.5 or 243.0 and turn around to reverse course until receiving additional instructions on one of those frequencies.”
For more information on the temporary flight restrictions, click here.
