Cessna 182 Carrying Marijuana Intercepted in Obama Airspace

A Cessna 182 allegedly carrying approximately 40 pounds of marijuana was intercepted by F-16s on Thursday after busting restricted airspace shared by Marine One.

According to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the incident occurred around 12:30 p.m. local time over Los Angeles. The fighters followed the 182 until it landed safely at Long Beach Airport.

While NORAD would not say exactly how close the privately owned 182 came to the helicopter carrying President Obama, who was being ferried between engagements in the L.A. area at the time, the Secret Service confirmed that the aircraft never posed an immediate threat to the president’s safety.

Upon landing at Long Beach, the 182 pilot, whose identity has not been released, was met by law enforcement personnel and taken into custody after officials found the sizeable stash of pot in the aircraft. According to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman, he will face charges for the incident.

Read one experienced pilot’s first-hand account of TFR Trouble here.

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Submitted by bonanzadriver on February 22, 2012.

My opinion varies from most by a wide margin. Why does the VP get priority over us Gen Av guys? I once barely departed KLIT when Gore was the VP, just before his excellency closed the airport. Why can't he an Obaba just fly in like the rest of us (oh, did I mention that we pay their very high salaries?!) For that matter, why can't they just fly on the airlines?? Maybe it's just me.

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Submitted by airdad on February 23, 2012.

in the words of Bugs Bunny, "what a maroon"

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Submitted by ChampPilot44 on February 26, 2012.

@bonazadriver : As a retired Naval aviator I ask you to "respect the Office".
Your intentional mispellings and suggestion they fly an airline shows a complete lack of respect to those of us who have served our country.
We must put politics aside as we have a duty to assure the safety of our highest offices - no matter who they are. Period.

As for the 182 pilot, one quick check of the TFRs and you might have gotten away with it another day!
What an idiot.