PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. – Two F-15 fighter jets
from the Joint Reserve Base New Orleans under the direction of North American
Aerospace Defense Command responded to an AW-139 helicopter that was out of
communication as it entered U.S. airspace from the Gulf of Mexico near New
Orleans, at 9:44 a.m. CT, Aug 1.
The NORAD controlled F-15 fighter jets intercepted the
helicopter which landed at a heliport in Leesville, LA at 9:44 a.m. CT. 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.