from reuters.........

Pilot Detained After Veering Near Bush Motorcade
Thu July 24, 2003 04:17 PM ET
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A man piloting a small plane that veered too close to
President Bush's motorcade on Thursday was detained by federal agents after
F-16 fighters and a police helicopter forced him to land, officials said.

The pilot, who was patrolling oil pipelines in a single-engine Cessna at
altitudes too low to be sighted by radar, entered a 30-mile no-fly zone and
flew along Bush's motorcade route as the president was traveling from a
speaking event in Philadelphia, officials said.

The pilot was identified only as an employee of Underwood Aerial Patrol of
Ohio.

"He was unaware that there was a temporary flight restriction in effect. There
was no threat. There was no malice," said James Borasi, special agent in charge
of the U.S. Secret Service's Philadelphia field office.

The incident, which occurred shortly after noon EDT, triggered a scramble of
F-16 fighters, which forced the pilot down at Camden County Airport in Berlin,
New Jersey, with help from a police helicopter, airport officials said.

About 30 police officers, with their guns drawn, waited as the Cessna taxied to
a stop and then ordered the pilot to lie down on the tarmac.

"They handcuffed him and whisked him out of here," said Karl Kleinberg, the
airport's owner.

Four hours after the incident, the pilot was still being detained as a suburban
New Jersey police station.