A small plane was forced to land in Chino, California, after a pilot violated airspace restrictions in place for President Barack Obama's visit, FAA spokesperson Allen Kenitzer told CNN.
Kenitzer had no further details about the incident.
The military also intercepted a private plane Thursday morning in the vicinity of Fullerton, California, Kenitzer said. The aircraft, a Mooney M20, landed at Chino at 6:04 a.m. PDT. The FAA is investigating.
The incidents on Thursday followed a similar issue on Wednesday when a fighter jet intercepted a single-engine airplane northwest of Los Angeles for breaching a temporary airspace restriction, according to a military news release.
The temporary restriction violated by the Cessna aircraft coincided with a campaign visit to the city by Obama, who was on a one-day fundraising swing through the state.
"After intercepting the aircraft, the F-16 followed it until it landed without incident, at approximately 4:58 p.m. PDT where the plane was met by local law enforcement," according to a statement issued by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
The president spoke at a gala for the gay community in Los Angeles, on his third fundraising trip to the Golden State in the past month. Earlier in the day, he attended two campaign events in San Francisco.
NORAD's mission is to protect U.S. and Canadian airspace against possible threats and may require planes to change course or land.
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As a pilot myself, I can say that there is no excuse for violating a presidential TFR. The FAA does everything short of going door to door knocking on pilots' doors to get the word out when TFR's will be in effect. Even if they didn't, checking for TFR's should be done before any flight. It's EXTREMELY easy to do.
Heck, even the drivers on the West side of LA listen for when his Royal Highness is in town due to the traffic mess that he causes.
For a pilot to miss this is pegging out the stupid meter.
Sorry Rich, I too have left the ground and within a short period of time found myself in "restricted" airspace near Tampa with Mr Biden visiting... AND NO INFO TO THAT EFFECT HAD BEEN GIVEN YET. Yes, after I got the info I exited the area.... but... Rich, Mr-Pilot-with-so-much-experience.... I was in it before I got the word!
Oh I see the ignorant throngs have come out to post ... stuck repeating lines from the GOP echo chamber ... facts be damned. I guess I should admire anyone who states things so completely outside of reality with such conviction ... or perhaps medicate them ...
Sounds fishy to me.
Lol. Flying along in your little cessna when a couple F-22 Raptors buzz you at 400 knots? I hope he had a change of drawers with him.
Incredible. Perfect answer you community college educated clown shoes.
I had Dog in China. It was quite good. Those big dogs were way to gamey and tough, but a little dog? Not too bad sir, not too bad.
¡Yo quiero Taco Bell!
They shouldn't have forced it to land, instead the air control tower & the F-16 should have direct & monitor the activities of the aircraft until its reach its destination.
Are you all brain dead?
1) All President's campaign on campaign years.
2) They all got the same protection (as is Romney and his family now)
3) The actual costs of his own flight and campaigning come from his campaign funding, not tax dollars.
All true, as is this statement. No other President has ever complained or ridiculed other chief executives for the use of their organizations private jets for the conduct of their business.
Not tax dollars? So how much does it cost to hire F-16 escort-protection and how is it charged exactly to the presidential campaign(reference please)? What difference does it make if "they all do it" to the tax dollar issue?
That's not true. They reimburse the government at the cost of a first-class ticket, which is orders of magnitude lower than the actual cost of flying Air Force 1, paying the pilots and SS entourage (not to mention scrambling fighters,) etc. The actual cost of his trip lies mostly on taxpayers, not his campaign, as is the case with any trip made by a President.
Simply over crowded airspace...flying into L.A. is risky, considering the safety record, theyre doing pretty good.
the pilot was flying to get justice for Trayvon
"The president spoke at a gala for the gay community in Los Angeles, on his third fundraising trip to the Golden State in the past month. Earlier in the day, he attended two campaign events in San Francisco."
Obama said "I'm gay too! Vote for me and I can come out. It will be rainbows and HIV for everyone."
seriously, is it a requirement to be uninformed to be a CON servative? These "people" are real loosers!
An obvious incompetent loser with a name like "tired o da crap" just reeks with white trash confusion. Sorry, but the rest of the country can't relate to the pathetic few that struggled to get their GED.
It appears to be a policy of "showing off". ....not what the US President should be doing right now.
What an absurd assertion.