Military fighter jets intercepted a civilian aircraft Sunday afternoon after it entered restricted airspace surrounding former President Donald Trump’s Florida resort, according to the North American Aerospace Defense Command.
The incident occurred at approximately 1:15 p.m. Eastern Time when the civilian plane breached a Temporary Flight Restriction zone around the Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Florida. These airspace restrictions are routinely established whenever the former president is present at the location.
NORAD officials confirmed the aircraft was “safely escorted out of the area” following the intercept. Military pilots deployed warning flares during the operation, which may have been observed by residents in the surrounding area.
“During the intercept, NORAD aircraft dispensed flares, which may have been visible to the public,” defense officials stated. “The flares were used to draw attention from or communicate with the pilot,” and posed no danger to people on the ground, according to the command.
This marks another in a series of comparable airspace violations that NORAD has documented since Trump resumed the presidency last year. Military officials report that all previous incidents have been resolved peacefully without any security threats being identified.
