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NORAD NEWS
News | April 11, 2012

NORAD fighters intercept a Korean Airlines aircraft

By NORAD and USNORTHCOM Public Affairs

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. – Two F-15 fighters under the direction of North American Aerospace Defense Command intercepted a Korean Airlines Boeing 777 shortly after departing Vancouver, BC, at approximately 4:00 PDT, April 10, due to a potential threat associated with the aircraft.

The fighters were scrambled out of Portland, Ore. The Korean Airliner was intercepted, diverted and the aircraft was shadowed until it landed at Canadian Forces Base Comox at approximately 5:30 PDT.

The close and transparent coordination that exists within the NORAD agreement enabled this intercept to occur and is truly a testament to the strong relationship between the U.S. and Canada.

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.