Bucks County residents heard and spotted a fighter jet late this morning after a civilian aircraft violated the Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) in place for President Donald Trump’s holiday weekend visit to his New Jersey golf resort.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), a joint U.S. and Canadian operation, dispatched aircraft to intercept a general aviation plane that entered the restricted airspace over Bedminster, New Jersey, which is approximately 23 miles from New Hope Borough.
The violation occurred around 10:30 a.m., according to NORAD.
The civilian aircraft was safely escorted out of the area by NORAD.
NORAD officials stated the Sunday morning’s intercept was followed by two later TFR violations.
Officials said there were 11 unauthorized incursions into restricted airspace over the weekend.
“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,” said Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander, NORAD and U.S. Northern Command. “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. 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.”
Planes that violate TFRs are commonly met by fighter jets or military helicopters, and pilots are typically greeted by law enforcement upon landing.
A similar incident occurred last month when a fighter jet intercepted a plane that violated airspace.
General aviation pilots are reminded to verify all Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) Notice to Airmen (NOTAMs) and “Fly Informed” before every flight.
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