CORRECTED VERSION (fixes miles and direction) PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. – Two F-16 fighter jets under the direction of North American Aerospace Defense Command assisted the FAA today with an unresponsive general aviation aircraft.
The aircraft took off from Waukesha Airport in Wisconsin and was on its way to Manassas Airport in Virginia when it crashed into the Atlantic ocean, approx. 140 miles southeast of Washington, D.C.
NORAD is the bi-national Canadian and American command that provides maritime warning, aerospace warning and aerospace control for Canada and the United States. The command has three subordinate regional headquarters: the Alaskan NORAD Region at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska; the Canadian NORAD Region at Canadian Forces Base Winnipeg, Manitoba; and the Continental NORAD Region at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla.