Fighter Jets Intercept Pilot in Restricted Airspace, Force Landing in Gaithersburg

A vacationing private pilot, apparently ill-informed about security procedures, flew far enough into Washington's restricted airspace yesterday to be intercepted by fighter jets.

The pilot, who was on his way from New York to a destination in the South with his wife and another couple, was forced to land at 6:10 p.m. at the Montgomery County Airpark in Gaithersburg, said the airport's manager, John Luke III.

"I explained to him what he did wrong," Luke said, and the man appeared unaware of the requirements for flying through the restricted space.

"He was really embarrassed," Luke said of the pilot of the single-engine Cessna 182.

The name of the man, who Luke said appeared to be in his late fifties or early sixties, was not immediately available.

After the plane landed in Gaithersburg, the two jets flew off. But a government helicopter, which had been shadowing the plane, came down at the airport, too.

Then the Secret Service drove up. They "questioned him in my office for about one hour," Luke said.

Secret Service spokeswoman Kim Bruce said the intrusion "was determined to be inadvertent."

The Secret Service said the pilot was sent on his way. By then, Luke said, it was 9:40 p.m.

Luke said he believed the pilot and his party had been headed to Alabama, but they planned to stay in a local hotel overnight after the "pretty harrowing ordeal."

Luke said private planes using proper equipment and procedures may fly through the outer ring of Washington's security airspace. That ring begins 15 miles from Washington and extends out for 15 more miles, he said. Pilots may enter by filing a flight plan and using the proper electronic transponder code, he said.

The pilot in yesterday's incident "didn't do any of that," he said, and was probably over western Montgomery County when intercepted.

Luke estimated that fighter jets are launched against airspace intruders about twice a year.