Eleven civilian aircraft violated the Temporary Flight Restriction over President Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster, where he visited during the July 4 holiday weekend.
Several aircraft that flew in restricted airspace were intercepted by the North American Aerospace Defense Command over the weekend, according to a news release.
The president and First Lady Melania Trump arrived in Bedminster on Friday evening and returned to the White House on Sunday evening, according to Trump’s public schedule.
“NORAD and the FAA aim to keep the skies over America safe, with close attention paid to areas with Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR) to ensure flight safety, national security, and the security of the President,” said Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command.
The U.S. military used a headbutt maneuver to get the civilian pilot’s attention and escort the aircraft out of the region during an interception on Saturday, according to Reuters.
“TFR procedures are mandatory, and the excessive number of TFR violations this weekend indicates some civil aviators are not reading Notice to Airmen, or NOTAMs, before each flight as required by the FAA,” Guillot said. “NORAD armed fighter aircraft will intercept and guide offending aircraft out of the TFR.”
Guillot added that if an aircraft pilot is intercepted, “they should immediately come up on frequency 121.5 or 243.0 and turn around to reverse course until receiving additional instructions on one of those frequencies.”
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Rebecca Heath may be reached at RHeath@njadvancemedia.com.
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