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11 dangerous aircraft incursions at Trump's Bedminster golf course over July 4 weekend
At least 11 aircraft incursions were intercepted by the US Air Force at President Donald Trump's golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey
At least 11 aircraft incursions were intercepted by the US Air Force at President Donald Trump's golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey. The latest incident was reported on Sunday. According to officials, a small private aircraft was directed away from the Trump National Golf Club. The White House is yet to address these reports.
According to officials, the 11 planes were met by F-16 fighter jets operated by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). All of them were forced out of the space.
“NORAD and the FAA aim to keep the skies over America safe, with close attention paid to areas with Temporary Flight Restrictions to ensure flight safety, national security, and the security of the President,” Gen. Gregory Guillot of NORAD said.
On Saturday, the F-16 fighter jet intercepted a general aviation aircraft that violated a temporary restriction of the airspace over Trump's golf course, the military confirmed. The NORAD said the incident took place around 2:39 PM local time. At least five such incursions took place on Saturday.
NORAD aircraft conducted a so-called headbutt maneuver to get the civilian pilot's attention and the aircraft was safely escorted out of the area, NORAD said in a statement.
“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," the agency said in a notice on X, platform formerly known as Twitter.
It further added that ‘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’.
"NORAD armed fighter aircraft will intercept and guide offending aircraft out of the TFR. Should the pilot of an aircraft happen to find itself intercepted by either fighters or helicopters, 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.”
