What can be done to keep this President in the White House? He's got
over 2,000 square miles of airspace restricted there. Believe me, no
one wants to hear his lies in Los Angeles.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...nes-california
4 Planes Forced to Land in Breach of Airspace During Bush's Visit
The small-craft pilots are grounded at area airports during Rancho
Cucamonga appearance.
By Susannah Rosenblatt, Times Staff Writer
Fighter jets forced four small airplanes to land Monday after they
strayed into restricted airspace during President Bush's visit to
Rancho Cucamonga, federal officials said.
Secret Service agents and local law enforcement officials detained and
questioned at least three of the pilots, who were forced to land their
private aircraft at airports in Corona, El Monte, Hawthorne and Hemet,
said Lt. Jody Vazquez, spokeswoman for North American Aerospace
Defense Command, or NORAD.
No arrests were made, but the Federal Aviation Administration will
determine whether any of the pilots should face sanctions, Vazquez
said.
As the president delivered remarks on Medicare and immigration, 30
nautical miles around Ontario International Airport and Rancho
Cucamonga were off-limits to most planes except military, law
enforcement, commercial and special FAA-approved aircraft, said FAA
spokesman Donn Walker.
The undisclosed number of patrol F-16s shot two flares each across the
nose of two of the planes to attract the pilots' attention and force
them to land, said Vazquez and Chris Butler, resident agent in charge
for the Secret Service in Riverside.
The flares are "one way we can try to say, 'Hey, look, you are not
where you're supposed to be," said Vazquez, who added that several
other aircraft entered the restricted zone but left immediately after
the FAA contacted them.
The couple that landed at Corona Municipal Airport had been headed to
Southern California from Northern California and were unaware of the
flight advisory Monday, Butler said.
In another of the four incidents, Marcel Avery, 62, was flying his
four-seat Cessna 182 from Hawthorne to Scottsdale, Ariz., when an F-16
appeared at his left side and waggled its wing at him twice, he
said."I was very, very surprised to see an F-16 on my wing," said
Avery, a 30-year flying veteran who said he had carefully plotted his
course with his flight instructor to avoid the restricted area.
The Manhattan Beach resident was grounded about two hours; Hemet
police and an FBI agent made a copy of his pilot's license and
searched his plane."It was a bit confusing — I didn't really
understand and think I should be [grounded]," Avery said.
"On the other hand, you don't argue with the police, and you don't
argue with the FAA. They tell you to do something and you do it, or
you suffer dire consequences."
....