NEW YORK — A single-engine Cessna 182 airplane got an F-16 fighter jet escort out of the skies near New York on Tuesday afternoon after it flew into a no-fly zone set up for the U.N. General Assembly meeting, officials said.
The small plane was spotted near the George Washington Bridge at about 2 p.m. Eastern time, said the North American Aerospace Defense Command — known by the acronym NORAD.
“F-16 fighter aircraft intercepted a small, single engine general aviation aircraft that violated the Temporary Flight Restriction area near #NYC,” the agency tweeted. “The aircraft was escorted out of the TFR w/o incident at approx. 2:00 p.m. EDT. #OperationNobleEagle.”
The agency said violations of temporarily restricted airspace “occur from time to time and are a normal part of NORAD operations.”
Some Twitter users were quick enough to record the fighter plane as it roared through the sky Tuesday, while others remarked on the noise.
“Fighter jet casually breaking the sound barrier over NYC on a monday afternoon, very normal stuff,” one Twitter user wrote.
It’s not unheard of for small-plane pilots to mistakenly wander into no-fly zones. “It pretty much happens without incident,” said Ken Paskar, a New York City aviation professional.
Though the restrictions are published by the Federal Aviation Administration and widely known in the aviation world, some pilots still don’t hear about them, said Paskar.
Fighter pilots will signal aviators “to follow land at the nearest airport, and they normally comply ... Usually, they are shocked because they are not aware,” Paskar said.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident, a spokesperson said.
