There was fire in the sky briefly on Sunday after an aircraft violated the restricted airspace over President Donald Trump’s Bedminster, New Jersey, golf course.
North American Aerospace Defense Command said it launched fighter jets after a plane violated the Temporary Flight Restriction banning planes from flying over where Trump was spending the weekend.
The incident happened at 12:50 p.m., according to a NORAD news release.
“The civilian aircraft was safely escorted out of the area by NORAD aircraft after the use of flares to draw the pilot’s attention,” the release said.
“The flares — which may have been visible to the public — are employed with the highest regard for the safety of the intercepted aircraft and people on the ground,” NORAD wrote in the release.
“Flares burn out quickly and completely and there is no danger to the people on the ground when dispensed.”
NORAD noted that the incident with the flares was the second intrusion into restricted airspace on Sunday.
According to WRNJ, there were a total of three violations on Saturday and four on Sunday.
Last month, multiple pilots violated the restrictions over Trump’s New Jersey golf club while he was there over the July Fourth weekend.
According to Newsweek, 11 civilian aircraft were intercepted over that weekend.
In one case, the First Air Force, which is based at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, said in a statement, a fighter jet carried out what’s called a “headbutt maneuver” to get the attention of the wayward pilot, according to Fox News.
The maneuver puts the fighter in front of the civilian plane as the military plane signals the pilot to either follow the military aircraft or change course.
In a message to pilots at the time, NORAD said, “It is critically important for North American flight safety that Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) violations are avoided.
“All pilots must familiarize themselves with updates to restricted airspace, including reviewing new and existing FAA NOTAMs that impact their flight plans and activities. Adhering to FAA restricted airspace protocols is mandatory, regardless of geographical region, airframe, or aircrew.”
“NORAD and the FAA aim to keep the skies over America safe, with close attention paid to areas with Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR) to ensure flight safety, national security, and the security of the President,” Gen. Gregory Guillot, Commander, NORAD and U.S. Northern Command, said in a statement posted to X.
“TFR procedures are mandatory, and the excessive number of TFR violations this weekend indicates some civil aviators are not reading Notice to Airmen, or NOTAMs, before each flight as required by the FAA. NORAD armed fighter aircraft will intercept and guide offending aircraft out of the TFR,” he wrote.
“Should the pilot of an aircraft happen to find itself intercepted by either 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.”
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