NORAD detects aircraft flying in restricted zone above Palm Beach, Florida

A civilian aircraft that violated a temporary flight restriction (TFR) near President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate was detected and “escorted out” by military officials on Sunday.

In a statement released on Sunday, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said that its F-16 fighter aircraft responded to “a general aviation aircraft” flying above Palm Beach, Florida.

NORAD, which is a U.S. military alliance with Canada, said that the civilian aircraft “violated the TFR at approximately 1:15 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.”

“The aircraft was [then] safely escorted out of the area by NORAD aircraft,” NORAD said.

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The news release also noted that NORAD aircraft had “dispensed flares,” at the time, which may have been visible to civilians.

“The flares were used to draw attention from or communicate with the pilot,” the statement noted. “Flares are employed with the highest regard for safety, burn out quickly and completely, and pose no danger to people on the ground.”

NORAD Commander Gen. Gregory Guillot said the agency “works closely” with the FAA to “keep the skies over America safe, with close attention paid to areas with Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR).”

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“Adherence to TFR procedures is essential to ensure flight safety, national security, and the security of the President,” Guillot added. “The procedures are not optional, and the excessive number of recent TFR violations indicates many civil aviators are not reading Notice to Airmen, or NOTAMs, before each flight as required by the FAA, and has resulted in multiple responses by NORAD fighter aircraft to guide offending aircraft out of the TFR.”

“Should the pilot of an aircraft happen to find itself intercepted by one of fighters or helicopters, they should immediately come up on frequency 121.5 or 243.0 and turn around to reverse course until receiving additional instructions on one of those frequencies.”

Since Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20, NORAD has responded to “over 20 tracks of interest” entering the TFR area of Palm Beach, the agency said.