NORAD fighters respond to Denver-bound aircraft

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. – Two F-16 fighters from Buckley Air Force Base, Colo., under the direction of North American Aerospace Defense Command, intercepted a Denver-bound aircraft today at approximately 6:45 p.m. MDT.

The aircraft departed Washington National Airport enroute to Denver. Shortly before landing in Denver, a passenger possibly caused a disturbance on the plane. Upon intercepting the aircraft, the F-16s escorted the aircraft until it landed safely without incident at approximately 6:50 p.m. MDT where the plane was met by local law enforcement.

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 Winnipeg, 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.

Related links:

Transportation Security Administration -- TSA Statement on United Flight 663