Fox News reported that two F-16 fighter jets from the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) intercepted a civilian aircraft flying into the area near Lake Tahoe (Nevada), where President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden were vacationing on August 25.
NORAD said the F-16s fired flares to attract the civilian pilots' attention and then flew the aircraft out of the area without incident. The identity of the aircraft is still unknown.
American F-16 fighter
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told X that the breach had no impact on the agency's operations, according to Business Insider. White House deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton also confirmed that the incident had no impact on President Biden.
Mr. Biden is expected to return to Washington DC today (August 26) after a week of rest with his family.
It is not uncommon for F-16s to intercept civilian aircraft flying too close to where the president is staying. According to a NORAD official, these intrusions happen quite frequently, to varying degrees.
This is the second time in just a few months that NORAD, the bilateral command tasked with protecting the United States and Canada, has had to scramble fighter jets to intercept civilian aircraft entering restricted airspace in the United States.
In June, NORAD was forced to scramble to intercept a civilian aircraft flying over Washington DC, which later crashed in Virginia, causing a large explosion in the area.
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