Federal officials maintain a permanent flight restriction over Trump's club that expands to a radius of 30 nautical miles when the president is in residence. Violations, and intercepts, are relatively routine, but NORAD is raising alarm over the frequency of the intrusions since Trump's inauguration, saying it has responded to more than 20 incidents and blames civilian pilots for not following regulations requiring them to check for airspace restrictions before taking off.
Air Force fighter jets intercepted a civilian aircraft flying in the temporarily restricted airspace near Donald Trump’s Florida home Sunday, bringing the number of violations to more than 20 since the president took office on Jan. 20. North American Aerospace Defense Command said in a statement that Sunday’s incident, which took place as Trump finished a round of golf at his West Palm Beach golf course, saw F-16s deploy flares to get the attention of the civilian pilot. Jets also conducted an intercept on Saturday morning shortly after Trump arrived at the course from his private Mar-a-Lago club and residence.
Air Force F-16 fighter jets scrambled Sunday to intercept aircraft that entered the airspace over President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida — the second time that’s happened in 48 hours, NORAD says. A civilian aircraft flew into the no-fly zone over the property at around 1:15 p.m. Sunday, according to a statement. The fighter jets fired flares to warn the pilots to move out of the area, the military said. The aircraft was then escorted out of the area.
