PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- NORAD fighter jets responded to a Piper Cub that violated a FAA-established Temporary Flight Restriction zone over Kennedy Space Center today. Two F-16s were diverted from an irregular air patrol and intercepted the small general aviation-type aircraft within the restricted airspace during the 9-minute hold period of NASA?s countdown to launch. The fighters, assigned to Shaw Air Force Base, dispensed threes flares within restricted airspace to get the pilot's attention and then escorted the aircraft out of the restricted airspace to an airstrip approximately 50 miles north of Kennedy Space Center. After the Piper Cub landed, the F-16s returned to base.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, NORAD fighters have scrambled or diverted from air patrols in the U.S. Northern Command Area of Responsibility more than 2,000 times to respond to possible air threats, and have combined with Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) and air-to-air-refueling aircraft to fly more than 40,000 sorties.
For more information please contact Mr. Michael Kucharek, Chief of Media Relations for NORAD and USNORTHCOM, at 719-330-5136.