The North American Aerospace Defense Command was forced to send out jets Saturday when three civilian planes flew over Mar-a-Lago in the space of two hours.
Ever since President Donald Trump took office, there is a temporary flight restriction over his resort in Palm Beach, Florida whenever he visits. This restricted airspace includes a 10 nautical mile (nm) inner core and 30 nautical mile outer core. This can often conflict with flight patterns in and out of Palm Beach International Airport.
Trump arrived at Mar-a-Lago Friday with plans to spend the weekend at his Florida home.
First, a plane entered the restricted airspace at 11:05 a.m, which prompted NORAD’s F-16 fighter aircraft to intercept the plane and escort it out of the area. Flares were also deployed to “draw attention from or communicate with the pilot” according to NORAD.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the White House for comment.
“Adherence to TRF procedures is essential to ensure flight safety, national security, and the security of the President,” NORAD Commander General Gregory Guillot said in a statement. “The procedures are not optional, and the excessive number of recent TRF violations indicates 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 TRF.”
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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has not commented publicly on the matter, but is in the middle of recruiting more air traffic controllers. Out of the entire Transportation Department, Duffy confirmed that the Federal Aviation Administration is the only agency that had an active DEI policy until he took office. The FAA manages the employees who work at various control towers in every airport across the nation. Duffy said he is “committed to recruiting the best and brightest to become an Air Traffic Controller.”