In what is becoming an alarming pattern, U.S. Air Force F-16s once again had to intercept a civilian aircraft for violating restricted airspace near President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence this weekend.
This marks the second incursion in just two days.
The first incident occurred at approximately 8:50 a.m. on Saturday when a general aviation aircraft entered the restricted airspace. NORAD F-16s responded promptly, escorting the aircraft out of the area without further incident.
“NORAD and the FAA work closely together to keep the skies over America safe, with close attention paid to areas with Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR),’’ said Gen. Gregory Guillot, Commander, NORAD and US Northern Command.
“Adherence to TFR procedures is essential to ensure flight safety, national security, and the security of the President. 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.”
The second violation took place around 1:15 p.m. on Sunday, involving another civilian aircraft breaching the TFR.
According to a press release from NORAD, F-16s from the Continental U.S. NORAD Region (CONR) were deployed to intercept and escort the rogue aircraft out of the area.
During the interception, the F-16s deployed flares, to capture the pilot’s attention before safely guiding the aircraft out of the restricted zone.
“NORAD and the FAA work closely together to keep the skies over America safe, with close attention paid to areas with Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR),’’ said Gen. Gregory Guillot, Commander, NORAD and US Northern Command.
Twice in the past 48 hours, F-16 fighter jets from the Continental U.S. NORAD region responded to a general aviation aircraft over Palm Beach, FL, violating the Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR). Pilots, please check NOTAMs! #WeHaveTheWatch https://t.co/kwx4MvT7x6
— North American Aerospace Defense Command (@NORADCommand) March 9, 2025
Since President Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2025, there have been over 20 such airspace violations in the Palm Beach area. General Gregory Guillot, Commander of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command.
Last week, the Secret Service was investigating after multiple aircraft violated airspace over Palm Beach on the weekend.
Newsmax host Todd Starnes reported that three aircraft were escorted out of the area by F-16 fighter jets at 11:05 a.m., 12:10 p.m., and 12:50 p.m. on Saturday.
During two of the intercepts, the fighter jets had to deploy flares, and all three planes were safely escorted out of the restricted airspace.
Last month, The Palm Beach Post reported that three airspace violations occurred in February while President Trump was staying at Mar-a-Lago.
“A spokesperson for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, confirmed Wednesday that there were three airspace violations of the imposed presidential protected space during Trump’s six-day visit to Mar-a-Lago, his mansion in Palm Beach. Two occurred on Feb. 15 and one on Presidents Day, Feb. 17,” the Palm Beach Post reported last month.
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