Close

Member Login

Logging In
Invalid username or password.
Incorrect Login. Please try again.

not a member? sign-up now!

Signing up could earn you gear and it helps to keep offensive content off of our site.

Three Aircraft Intercepted by F-16s in Presidential Airspace

By Bethany Whitfield / Published: Jun 07, 2012
Rate it! 100% or 0%

Three GA aircraft were intercepted by F-16s in the past two days after busting a presidential TFR in the airspace surrounding Los Angeles, marking the latest in a growing string of TFR busts in the area since February.

On Wednesday night, the offending airplane was a single-engine Cessna, which was intercepted northwest of L.A. around 5 p.m. and forced to land in the city of Camarillo. On Thursday morning, F-16s then intercepted a Cessna 206 and a Piper Cherokee around 9:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. respectively. Both aircraft landed without further incident.

President Obama has been in Los Angeles for a fundraising event and was scheduled to leave on Thursday.

Last month a Piper Cherokee was intercepted in Los Angeles after breaching a presidential TFR just before President Obama was scheduled to take off from LAX.

Likewise, in February a Cessna 182 was escorted down by dual F-16s after entering airspace shared by Marine One. When authorities apprehended the pilot upon landing, a search of his aircraft uncovered 40 pounds of marijuana.

Comments (3) Post a comment

All Comments

archer51's picture

The President and the Mrs love LA. They come often and this elicits broad and unpredictable TFRs. It inconveniences thousands of us who fly the valley! It also gets a bunch of us into trouble with the FAA. This presidential entitlement is insulting: who is he to shut down an entire city just because he likes to have dinner with actors? 'F' for manners!

N3922B's picture

Hey Archer51, I fly in the LA basin too. I get TFRs emailed to me days before they happen. When I get a briefing I also check TFRs. There are even websites for it. Maybe you should plan your flights better if you think TFRs are just popping up out of nowhere.

I'll bet you didn't complain about "presidential entitlement" under the previous administration, huh. Don't let your hatred for the current admin make you a worse pilot.

Check your six for F16s, buddy.

archer51's picture

3922B - you are correct. There are many resources for finding the latest TFRs. They're even mapped for us! I didn't mean this to sound like I don't plan - just that one guy who seems to like the basin will close down the airspace for the thousands of us who also like the same area.

Top Rated

Your Comment
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
All submitted comments are subject to the license terms set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use