U.S. military jets intercepted a civilian aircraft on Saturday after it entered temporarily restricted airspace over Palm Beach, Florida, where President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate is located, according to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
NORAD said the small civilian plane flew into the restricted zone at about 4:20 p.m. EST. In response, the command deployed F-16 fighter jets, which first released flares to get the pilot’s attention before escorting the aircraft out of the area.
“The flares, which may have been visible to the public, are used with the highest regard for safety, burn out quickly and completely, and pose no danger to people on the ground,” NORAD said. The binational U.S.-Canadian command is responsible for aerospace and maritime warning for North America.
NORAD also used the incident to remind private pilots to review “Notices to Airmen,” or NOTAMs, before every flight. These advisories alert aviators to changes in the national airspace, including temporary flight restrictions, which bar aircraft from entering specific zones for set periods of time.
The command noted that military jets “will respond to aircraft violating the Temporary Flight Restriction and take the necessary action to gain compliance,” urging pilots to avoid such situations entirely.
Saturday’s interception came after “multiple general aviation aircraft violations of restricted airspace” over Palm Beach earlier in the week, NORAD said. Since Trump took office in January, the command has monitored more than 40 “tracks of interest” that breached temporary flight restrictions in the West Palm Beach region.
Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence is in Palm Beach, while his golf club is located in nearby West Palm Beach. The president spent the Thanksgiving holiday weekend at Mar-a-Lago.
A “track of interest” is any airborne object that poses, or could pose, a threat to North American or U.S. national security and is monitored accordingly, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Less than two months into Trump’s second term, in early March, NORAD reported that military jets had already intercepted 20 civilian aircraft that violated temporary flight restrictions near his Palm Beach home.
A similar episode occurred in 2017 during Trump’s first term, when two F-15 fighter jets were scrambled to intercept an unresponsive aircraft near Mar-a-Lago. That response produced a “sonic boom” — the loud sound generated when an aircraft travels faster than the speed of sound — which startled residents in the surrounding area.
