A civilian aircraft was met with two fighter jets and a helicopter after it violated restricted airspace around Lake Tahoe, Nevada, on Friday morning.
The civilian aircraft “violated a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR),” according to a North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) release.
President Joe Biden is currently vacationing in Lake Tahoe with his family.
Two NORAD F-16 fighter jets released flares after the civilian aircraft violated the TFR at around 7:50 a.m. PT, the release continued.
The flares, which “burn out quickly,” were deployed to capture the civilian pilot’s attention “with the highest regard for safety of the intercepted aircraft and people on the ground,” NORAD wrote.
JUST IN: Two F-16 fighter jets and a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter intercepted a civilian aircraft violating a temporary flight restriction near where President Joe Biden and the first family are vacationing in Lake Tahoe Friday morning.https://t.co/8czjh2EaFN
— KRNV (@KRNV) August 25, 2023
The civilian aircraft was subsequently “escorted out of the area,” according to the release. (RELATED: Sonic Boom Rocks Nation’s Capital As Fighter Jet Intercepts Plane That Later Crashed)
A U.S. Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter assisted the F-16s amid the interception, NORAD wrote.
Olivia Dalton, a White House official, told the Associated Press (AP) the interception did not impact the president.
Multiple F-16s previously rocked Washington, D.C., with a sonic boom to intercept an unresponsive Cessna 560 Citation V transiting through D.C. and northern Virginia airspace before it crashed in early June.