talk about a wake up call....
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F-16's fire flares at two private planes
Updated: 10/09/2004 07:32:53 PM - VIDEO
People in Lake Elmo say they saw a military aircraft fire something at two private planes.
"We saw bright lights coming out of the fighter jet like it was being, like a small aircraft was being fired upon," Anne Gelbmann said.
A local pilot, who was flying one of the planes to test a new oil filter, says he forgot about the President's visit and the flight restrictions. He didn't check with flight services, and flares were fired at his plane to get his attention and get him out of the area.
"I just flew between two of them, I don't know how to explain it. I just didn't want one falling, especially on my fuel tank, I've got 40 gallons on either side. Kind of made a mess out it, I didn't mean to mess those people up like that, cause all that trouble," the pilot, Larry Kuehn said.
When a VIP like the President is in town, a temporary no fly zone goes into effect. When a no fly zone is in effect, an Air Force radar plane monitors the airspace. It is called AWACS, which stands for Airborne Warning and Control System. I can detect when an aircraft ventures into restricted air space. AWACS immediately calls the military to come in and intercept a plane.
National guard sources say in this case, two F-16's were unable to intercept the planes by radio, so they had to deploy the flares to get the pilots' attention.
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[ QUOTE ]
F-16's fire flares at two private planes
Updated: 10/09/2004 07:32:53 PM - VIDEO
People in Lake Elmo say they saw a military aircraft fire something at two private planes.
"We saw bright lights coming out of the fighter jet like it was being, like a small aircraft was being fired upon," Anne Gelbmann said.
A local pilot, who was flying one of the planes to test a new oil filter, says he forgot about the President's visit and the flight restrictions. He didn't check with flight services, and flares were fired at his plane to get his attention and get him out of the area.
"I just flew between two of them, I don't know how to explain it. I just didn't want one falling, especially on my fuel tank, I've got 40 gallons on either side. Kind of made a mess out it, I didn't mean to mess those people up like that, cause all that trouble," the pilot, Larry Kuehn said.
When a VIP like the President is in town, a temporary no fly zone goes into effect. When a no fly zone is in effect, an Air Force radar plane monitors the airspace. It is called AWACS, which stands for Airborne Warning and Control System. I can detect when an aircraft ventures into restricted air space. AWACS immediately calls the military to come in and intercept a plane.
National guard sources say in this case, two F-16's were unable to intercept the planes by radio, so they had to deploy the flares to get the pilots' attention.
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