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NORAD fighters respond to airspace violation April 06, 2009 PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. —Two F-16 fighters under the direction of North American Aerospace Defense Command intercepted a small Cessna aircraft near Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and the Wisconsin border today at approximately 4:40 p.m. EDT. F-16 aircraft from the Minnesota Air National Guard initially scrambled out of Duluth, Minn., were replaced by fighters from the Wisconsin Air National Guard based out of Madison, Wisc., who then handed off the pursuit to the Louisiana Air National Guard fighters from New Orleans. The civilian aircraft departed Thunder Bay, Ontario without Navigation Canada authority and was reported as stolen. It entered United States airspace from the north and was headed south over Lake Superior. After intercept, the pilot acknowledged the fighters but was unresponsive to specific non-verbal commands. U.S. Customs Border Protection aircraft intercepted the Cessna as well, but the F-16s followed the aircraft until it landed in an area 23 miles northwest of Poplar Bluff, Mo., at 9:45 p.m. EDT. The intent of military intercepts is to have the identified aircraft re-establish communications with local FAA air traffic controllers and instruct the pilot to follow air traffic controllers to land safely for further follow-on action. NORAD's mission – in close collaboration with homeland defense, security, and law enforcement partners – is to prevent air attacks against North America, safeguard the sovereign airspaces of the United States and Canada by responding to unknown, unwanted and unauthorized air activity approaching and operating within these airspaces, and provide aerospace and maritime warning for North America. NORAD may be required to monitor, shadow, divert from flight path, direct to land and/or destroy platforms deemed a potential threat to North America. NORAD is the bi-national Canadian and American command that is responsible for the air defense of North America and maritime warning. The command has three subordinate regional headquarters: the Alaskan NORAD Region at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska; the Canadian NORAD Region at Winnepeg, Manitoba; and the Continental NORAD Region at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. The command is poised both tactically and strategically in our nation’s capital to provide a multilayered defense to detect, deter and prevent potential threats flying over the airspace of the United States and Canada. -30- Back
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April 06, 2009

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. —Two F-16 fighters under the direction of North American Aerospace Defense Command intercepted a small Cessna aircraft near Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and the Wisconsin border today at approximately 4:40 p.m. EDT.

F-16 aircraft from the Minnesota Air National Guard initially scrambled out of Duluth, Minn., were replaced by fighters from the Wisconsin Air National Guard based out of Madison, Wisc., who then handed off the pursuit to the Louisiana Air National Guard fighters from New Orleans.

The civilian aircraft departed Thunder Bay, Ontario without Navigation Canada authority and was reported as stolen. It entered United States airspace from the north and was headed south over Lake Superior. After intercept, the pilot acknowledged the fighters but was unresponsive to specific non-verbal commands. U.S. Customs Border Protection aircraft intercepted the Cessna as well, but the F-16s followed the aircraft until it landed in an area 23 miles northwest of Poplar Bluff, Mo., at 9:45 p.m. EDT.

The intent of military intercepts is to have the identified aircraft re-establish communications with local FAA air traffic controllers and instruct the pilot to follow air traffic controllers to land safely for further follow-on action.

NORAD's mission – in close collaboration with homeland defense, security, and law enforcement partners – is to prevent air attacks against North America, safeguard the sovereign airspaces of the United States and Canada by responding to unknown, unwanted and unauthorized air activity approaching and operating within these airspaces, and provide aerospace and maritime warning for North America. NORAD may be required to monitor, shadow, divert from flight path, direct to land and/or destroy platforms deemed a potential threat to North America.

NORAD is the bi-national Canadian and American command that is responsible for the air defense of North America and maritime warning. The command has three subordinate regional headquarters: the Alaskan NORAD Region at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska; the Canadian NORAD Region at Winnepeg, Manitoba; and the Continental NORAD Region at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. The command is poised both tactically and strategically in our nation’s capital to provide a multilayered defense to detect, deter and prevent potential threats flying over the airspace of the United States and Canada.

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