XPost: alt.politics.usa.republican, misc.legal, rec.aviation.military
XPost: rec.aviation.misc, rec.aviation.piloting, rec.aviation.student
XPost: soc.culture.iraq, us.military.army, us.military.national-guard
From: Info@flats123.com
it was a flying hair dryer
" "- Prof. Jonez€"" wrote in message
news:_Aohe.5$IC6.2467@news.uswest.net...
> "- Prof. Jonez€" wrote:
> > D.C. told: 'Run!' as plane strays
> > Amid 9/11 parallels, White House, Capitol evacuated and fighters
> > streak skies as Cessna violates no-fly zone
> >
> > BY CRAIG GORDON AND SYLVIA ADCOCK
> > STAFF WRITERS; Tom Brune and Deborah Barfield Berry, both of the
> > Washington Bureau, contributed to this story. Adcock reported from
> > Long Island.
> > May 12, 2005
> >
> > WASHINGTON -- Fighter jets ready to shoot diverted a single-engine
> > plane flying just three miles from the White House yesterday, but not
> > before the pilot's mistaken course touched off panicked evacuations
> > in the nation's capital and drama in the skies above.
> >
> > Any closer to the White House and the F-16 pilots might have faced a
> > shoot-to-kill order from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who was
> > monitoring the situation at the Pentagon, said U.S. defense and
> > aviation officials.
> > Instead, the two fighters maneuvered in front of the plane and fired
> > four flares - usually one or two will do the trick, officials said -
> > before they got the attention of the people on board, a pilot and
> > flight student from Pennsylvania who were flying the Cessna C-152
> > two-seater to a North Carolina air show.
> >
> > On the ground, the White House, the Capitol and the Supreme Court were
> > evacuated, prompting eerie parallels to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks,
> > when Washington was emptied after a jumbo jet plowed into the
> > Pentagon. Fighters streaked overhead that day, too, amid rumors of a
> > second plane headed toward the capital.
> >
> > "Run, run, run!" security officials shouted to staff at the White
> > House, which was raised to the "red alert" at 12:03 p.m. when the
> > plane was just three miles out. Eight minutes later - at 12:11 p.m. -
> > the alert status was reduced to "yellow" after the plane was diverted
> > west, and three minutes later, the Secret Service gave the all-clear.
> >
> > President George W. Bush was on a bike ride in a Maryland wildlife
> > refuge 30 minutes away. His Secret Service detail decided not to
> > interrupt his ride to tell him of the incident, the White House said.
> >
> > The two men had been "flying by sight" and strayed into the capital's
> > no-fly zone in what the Justice Department called an "accidental
> > intrusion."
> > The men were freed without criminal charges, but the Federal Aviation
> > Administration can take action against the pilot's license for
> > violating airspace regulations, officials said.
> >
> > The men - Hayden Sheaffer, of Lititz, Pa., and student pilot Troy
> > Martin, of Akron, Pa. - were flying a plane owned by Vintage Aero
> > Club, a group of fliers based at Smoketown Airport west of
> > Philadelphia.
> > "Troy was discussing with me ... all about the no-fly zones and how
> > they were going to avoid them," Martin's wife, Jill, told The
> > Associated Press.
> > Instead, the men's plane wandered into restricted airspace, failing
> > to respond to radio calls as it covered 12 miles in four minutes,
> > according to a timeline provided by the White House.
> >
> > The Cessna heading for Washington first came to the attention of air
> > traffic controllers at 11:28 a.m., said the Federal Aviation
> > Administration. Military officials grew nervous because the plane
> > appeared "on a straight-in shot toward the center of the Washington
> > area," said Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer, and not merely
> > skirting the edge of the White House no-fly zone as other errant
> > pilots usually do.
> > But aviation sources said that concern lessened somewhat after Black
> > Hawk helicopters from the U.S. Customs Service had identified it as a
> > Cessna.
> > Authorities have not said how low the plane was flying, but aviation
> > experts said it was likely the Cessna was flying between 3,000 and
> > 7,000 feet.
> > Washington is surrounded by layers of restricted flight zones, put in
> > place since the Sept. 11 attacks. The inner layer is a 15-mile ring
> > around the White House in which the only non-governmental flights
> > allowed are commercial aircraft to or from Reagan National Airport.
> >
> > Vice President Dick Cheney was at the White House and was moved to a
> > secure location. First lady Laura Bush and former first lady Nancy
> > Rea- gan, who was visiting, also were moved to secure quarters.
> >
> > At least one member of Congress criticized the response. Rep. Bennie
> > Thompson (D-Miss.) said, "We were all still running around, in
> > circles, trying to figure out where to go."
> >
> > Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) disagreed, saying, "Everyone seemed to
> > know where to go."
> >
> > How it happened
> >
> > (1) 11:28 a.m. - 21 miles north of D.C.
> >
> > FAA picks up Cessna C-152 on radar. It is 17 minutes form Washington
> > D.C.
> > (2) 11:55 a.m.
> >
> > Black Hawk helicopters take off from Reagan National Airport to
> > intercept.
> > (3) 12:00-12:11 p.m.
> >
> > Two F-16 fighters scramble from Andrews Air Force Base, fire four
> > warning flares into Cessna's path.
> >
> > (4) Alert status raised to red at 12:03 p.m. after Cessna reaches
> > 3-mile mark from White House. Alert status lowered to yellow after
> > Cessna is diverted at 12:11 p.m.
> >
> > (5) 12:37 p.m.
> >
> > Cessna is escorted to nearby airport, where its two occupants are
> > detained
> > No-fly zone 15 miles from White House*
> >
> > Except commercial aircraft to Reagan National Airport
>
>
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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