On Sunday, military officials escorted a civilian aircraft that breached a temporary flight restriction (TFR) near President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) reported that its F-16 fighter aircraft intercepted a “general aviation aircraft” over Palm Beach, Florida.
NORAD confirmed that the civilian aircraft trespassed the TFR around 1:15 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
“The aircraft was [then] safely escorted out of the area by NORAD aircraft,” NORAD said.
A Palm Beach County Sheriff patrol boat guards the waters around Mar-A-Lago on September 15, 2024. (REUTERS/Giorgio Viera)
“Adherence to TFR procedures is essential to ensure flight safety, national security, and the security of the President,” Guillot added. “The procedures are not optional, and the excessive number of recent TFR violations indicates many 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 TFR.”
“Should the pilot of an aircraft happen to find itself intercepted by one of 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.”
NORAD said it has responded to “over 20 tracks of interest” in proximity to Mar-a-Lago since Inauguration Day. ( REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo)
Since Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20, NORAD has responded to “over 20 tracks of interest” entering the TFR area of Palm Beach, the agency said.
