COLORADO SPRINGS — Two pilots who flew afoul of a temporary no-fly zone surrounding President Barack Obama’s two-day visit to Las Vegas were given an unforgettable lesson in double-checking their flight paths Friday morning.
Their reminder came from a pair of F-16 fighters scrambled by the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs to intercept the Cessna single-engine planes.
A fighter jet caught up with one plane at 7:10 a.m. and escorted it to the North Las Vegas Airport. The second was met at 7:34 a.m. and landed in Mesquite, Nev.
In each case, the pilots were met by authorities and interviewed, NORAD said in a written statement.
Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said he couldn’t provide more details about the incidents or say whether the pilots were censured. He referred questions to the Secret Service, which couldn’t immediately be reached. The Gazette
