A high level of security is maintained for the president of the United States whenever he travels. A temporary no-fly zone is one of these. There have been numerous incursions into that airspace recently, prompting military action.
The North American Aerospace Defense (NORAD) Command tweeted on June 20 that their fighter jets had responded to “several general aviation aircraft that violated the VIP Temporary Flight Restricted” air space near San Francisco, California. The three occurrences, according to the agency, were resolved without incident.
#NORAD fighter aircraft have responded to several general aviation aircraft that violated the VIP Temporary Flight Restricted area near San Francisco this morning. All three events have concluded without incident.
— North American Aerospace Defense Command (@NORADCommand) June 20, 2023
NORAD Command followed up with a tweet reminding local pilots to check the latest NOTAM for the day and the following. A fighter jet is shown on video footage slicing off another, smaller plane.
The Marin County Sheriff’s Office posted a tweet advising residents to avoid the area since access to some roads was blocked.
We are aware of the event in the Central Marin area, and have a variety of Law Enforcement resources detailed to the event. We request that any persons who do not live in the immediate area stay away due to the fact, roadways are restricted in various locations.
— Marin County Sheriff (@MarinSheriff) June 20, 2023
The president spent three days in the San Francisco area. On June 19 he landed and made an announcement about a climate effort at a wildlife sanctuary in Palo Alto. In addition, he went to San Francisco for four different fundraisers.
The jets’ interception wasn’t the first of its kind this month. On June 4, officials near Washington, DC, dispatched fighter jets to intercept a plane that was not communicating with them. The military pilots got up to the private plane and saw that the pilot was slouched over in the cockpit. Two women, a kid, and the pilot were all killed when their plane crashed in Virginia close to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Reporting after the fact established that the plane belonged to Republican megadonor John Rumpel. He said his daughter Adina, his granddaughter Aria, age 2, and the nanny all perished in the accident.
