Light Aircraft intercepted near Whitehouse

[Razor61]

The Whitehouse and Capitol building were evacuated at 1200EST today as a light aircraft strayed into the restricted area. Jets were scrambled to intercept it.

Sky News showed scores of people running down the streets away from the area :hmm:

The all clear has now been given.

[Ian Corrigible]

CNN is devoting so much attention to the story you'd think a Tu-160 had been spotted cruising towards the White House...

F-16s and a UH-60 scrambled to force down a stray Cessna 150 within the 15 mile limit (3 miles out); flares fired by the Vipers to get the guy's attention.

I/C

[ComJam]

Some PPL in chains and a nice orange suit by now :D

[Iron City]

Wrong. Short testy interview with the unsmiling people and a thorough search of the aircraft (no doubt for copies of religous tracts or chem/bio devices or maybe a nuke) both crew released in time for 2300 local news last night.

Now they get to explain to FAA, may suspend licenses but don't have the capability (or cohones) to shoot them down.

[CarltonBrowne the FO]

Iron City said...
don't have the capability (or cohones) to shoot them down.
I would have thought a Stinger would be able to find the exhaust heat from a C150, even fired from the ground. The fact that the aircraft was NOT shot down shows admirable restraint and judgement of the actual threat (given the size and speed of the aircraft).
No casualties, and a chance for the security forces to assess how well their procedures worked. Not a bad result!

[Darth Nigel]

Now that's an interesting question? Can one get a missile lock on a Cessna C150 -- do they have a significant heat or indeed radar signature for missile targeting purposes?

Or is there an AIM-9 OS variant (for "oil-seeking") which would hit most GA Cessnas?

And as to the event itself -- I can't help feeling that the whole thing was a bit of an over-reaction by the forces of law, order, might, right and justice. Luvvie media has been full of interviews, photos and eye-witness accounts of people running screaming from the Capitol building, Senators with beepers a beeping, guards running shouting orders through the House and Senate, black armored SUVs thundering through the streets of DC, Vice-president put back into his undergound Sarcophagus, Pesident blissfully "unaware" (hem hem)... All seems like a lot of fuss and much mutual masturbation and talk-show congratulation now that the anti-terrorist forces managed to outwit two lost VFR pilots in a C150.

But hearty congratulations to them at the sharp end for handling the intercept in a sane, sensible and reasonable manner.

[Telstar]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2005/05/11/2002271673.jpg

:eek:

Story (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002271787_capital12.html )

[wiggy]

Wow. looks like the usual TSA pre-flight screening of flight crew

[Ian Corrigible]

"That's right sarge, we caught them red handed. A lighter and a pair of nail clippers..."

Shame they weren't so enthusiastic about 'up close and personal' checks when the Saudis flew out on 9/12...

:hmm:

I/C

[Neeps]

"The president, who was riding his bicycle at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in suburban Maryland, was alerted by his security detail after the drama was over. "

:E

[boswell bear]

says alot about the American attitude how they always want everyone laid face down on the floor.

[jb5000]

Interesting article in the Times about it..

Apparently after scrambling all the F16s they had to send up Black Hawk helicopters as the fighters couldn't fly slow enough to accompany the Cessna.

[BEagle]

Bit risky sending up Blackhawks if previous US fighter pilot a/c recognition standards are anything to go by......

On 14 Apr 1994, 2 Blackhawks from Diyarbakir were designated Eagle-1 and Eagle-2. Their first destination was Irbil, Iraq, but they would have to make a stop in Zakhu, Iraq (where the military part of Provide Comfort operated). There were plans to visit several other areas as well.

At 8:22AM, Eagle Flight departed Diyarbakir. They were headed East-Southeast for a "gate" into the No-Fly Zone.

At 9:21AM, Eagle Flight called the AWACS (callsign "Cougar"). They requested and were granted permission to enter the "gate" into the the No-Fly Zone.

At 9:24AM, Eagle Flight lands at Zakhu, Iraq.

At 9:35AM, two USAF F-15 fighters launched from Incirlik to patrol the No-Fly Zone.

At 9:54AM, Eagle Flight calls the AWACS to report departure from Zakhu, Iraq, with a destination of Irbil, Iraq.

At 10:12AM, Eagle Flight enters mountainous terrain. Its IFF failed.

At 10:20AM Tiger Flight passes through "gate" into No-Fly Zone.

At 10:22AM Tiger Flight picks up radar contact at 40nm with no IFF. Tiger-1 reports, "Cougar, picked up helicopter tracking northwest bound." AWACS says the area should be "clean".

At 10:25 AWACS responds that there are "hits there" in the No-Fly Zone - confirming Tiger Flight's radar contact.

F-15 Tiger Flight makes visual contact with Blackhawk Eagle Flight at 5nm.

At 10:28 Tiger-1 conducts a VID pass on the helicopters. "Cougar, tally 2 Hinds."

AWACS replied, "Copy 2 Hinds".

Tiger-1 then instructed Tiger-2 to make a VID pass.

30 seconds later Tiger-2 confirms, "Tally 2."

Tiger-1 to Tiger-2, "Arm hot."

At 10:30AM on April 14, 1994, Tiger-1 fired an AIM 120 at Eagle-2. Tiger-2 fired an AIM 9 at Eagle-1.

The missiles hit Eagle Flight with deadly accuracy. Tiger-1 confirmed the hits to AWACS, "Splash 2 Hinds."

There were no survivors amongst the 26 on board the 2 Blackhawks.

[Warren Buffett]

Unfortunately we're evolving into a nation of paranoia and propaganda.

[Warren Buffett]

You may be right. Maybe we get them to go over to war zones instead of sending our young men and women to be maimed and slaughtered.

The day is not far when some poor private pilot making an honest mistake is taken out by a missile fired by an F-16 under this redneck agenda.

I don't give stock tips.

[Tigs2]

BEagle
Do you know what action was taken against the F15 pilots? The guys who blew the canadians away in Kandahar walked free.

[BEagle]

2 US ANG F-16 pilots, Maj Schmidt and Maj Umbach attacked a Canadian live fire training exercise, killing 4 Canadians and injuring 8 others, in total disregard of their RoE.

After spotting the weapons firing, Umbach immediately tried to determine the precise source of the shooting, while Major Schmidt requested, and was denied, permission to fire his 20-millimetre cannon in that direction.

Then, Major Schmidt was asked to describe the "fireworks" on the ground, and specifically told to "hold fire." But within a few minutes, flying at 23,000 feet, he declared that he was "rolling-in, in self-defence," swooping down to 10,000 feet and dropping a 250-kilogram laser-guided bomb on 100 soldiers with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.

Schmidt and Umbach were originally charged with manslaughter and aggravated assault and faced up to 64 years in prison.

The criminal charges against Schmidt were later dropped, and military officials instead charged him with dereliction of duty.

Last July, Schmidt was found guilty on four counts of dereliction of duty, for which he was grounded, reprimanded and docked one month's salary.

All charges against Umbach were dismissed. He was given a letter of reprimand and his retirement request granted.

How did I guess they were from an ANG unit.... From personal experience of them in Incirlik, many of them come across as trigger-happy ill-disciplined rednecks.

Umbach was actually the squadron's commander. Interestingly, Schmidt's 'call-sign' (that childish Top Gun thing so beloved of spams) was 'psycho'. It was clearly apt.

[Gainesy]

I think Tigs refering to the Hind/UH-60 mis-ident. Do the USAF have anything like Recognition Journal BTW?

[BEagle]

Sorry - misread Tigs' post.

The two F-15 pilots--Lt. Col. Randy W. May and Capt. Eric Wickson--were taken off flying status for at least three years. Additionally, AWACS officers Capt. Jim Wang, Capt. Joseph M. Halcli and 1st Lt. Ricky L. Wilson were disqualified from controlling aircraft for three years.

Do they have a Recognition journal? Don't know. But at Incirlk the increasingly long pre-mission briefs sometimes included recognition slides. Once they put up a piccie of an F-15.... "Hoo-ah! It's a Hind, waste the mutha!" came the Brit voice from the back.

Spams not amused!

[Tigs2]

BEagle
Thanks.
I believe that one of the main pieces of evidence for the defence of the 2 F16 ANG pilots was that they had been prescribed amphetamines to keep them 'up'. A side effect of amphetimines is that after 72 hours on the junk you may become very irrational and it will affect decision making. The defence lawers stated that as the pilots had been prescribed the amphetimines by the US military, their subsequent irrational behaviour was the US militarys fault! The pilots also had an in-theatre squadron patch which said on it 'F**k patience i want to kill something'! Well they did didn't they.

During GW1 i was flying a Puma on a liason visit with the Patriot Batteries being set up, on landing at their HQ, the Col in charge came over to us and said 'Hey who the hell is flying the pink Hips?'. When i pointed out that they were infact Pumas, which the Brits and French operate, as opposed to Hips which Saddam operates, he said 'well i never new that, look like Hips to me". He then continued his rounds of the Stinger patrols being set up as a perimeter defence for his Patriot HQ. We then had to set up trips to all the Stinger outposts to show them what a Puma looked like.

[BEagle]

I can well believe that.....

During the days when we used to shoo Ivan away from the UK ADIZ, we joined on a Bear which had 2 spam F-15s behind it. Overhead on the A/A common freq, the Yanks were heard to say "There's a British Nimrod joining on us with an F4.."

"No - it's a VC10. A tanker", we said.

Just then the spams had to leave to run away to their 135, bravely lurking 30 miles away.

"Bye bye, chaps", we said, "of course if you tanked properly, you could have had some fuel from us. Oh - and when you land, do dig out your recce book. It's the one covered in dust!"

No doubt the Russkis smiled at that.....

On another occasion, a spam was surprised at the 'DC10' joining. It was pointed out that it was, in fact, a TriStar and was an RAF tanker.

Gits!

[steamchicken]

Regarding speed. Having sampled the delights of the stuff in civil life, wouldn't want to drive let alone fly under the influence of same. Nor repeat the experience.

As well as rendering one alert and at least giving the impression of energy, it also makes you paranoid and overconfident. You want to do everything at once and you are sure you can do it, but They are watching from everywhere!

The Afghan incident sounds very like the influence of the drug. 1. He was convinced he was right and no-one else understood him (overconfident). 2. He was convinced he was under attack despite being in friendly territory (paranoia). 3. He wouldn't wait for the AWACS to talk back but plunged anyway (impulsiveness).

[Tigs2]

SteamChicken
correct on all accounts. The only way of handling fatigue is to get some sleep rather than take substances that persuade your body that you dont need sleep.

[OVERTALK]

Radio-Controlled Model airplane flies over Capitol Building, Washington evacuated.__
_
Washington,__D.C. USA_ (Reuters) --Thousands were_injured in a_panic anxiety attack today during a no-notice evacuation of Washington D.C. The incident_is suspected_tied to an_earlier appearance near the Washington Monument_of a_large cluster of a child's tied-together gaily coloured helium balloons_ - assumed to have escaped_. These_had been_promptly engaged by a flight of scrambled_ANG F-16s with mixed results, the balloons having quickly split up and fled the scene independently. However the radio-controlled aircraft appears to have escaped unscathed. F16 pilot Captain "Hawkeye" Mohammeddan said apologetically: "These Terrorist swine have stooped to new lows. The registration letters on that model aircraft were so small that nobody could have read them. I expended all my ammo on it after firing four flares across its bows. It just ignored those flares so I had no choice but to open fire. It's a pity that so many people and Washington buildings got in my line of fire, but it was the most challenging target I've ever engaged. We need new more sophisticated weapons to deal with these fiendish diabolical threats"._Queried about the civilian casualties, Captain Mohammeddan replied: "It's the standard operating procedure for our anti-terror scrambles and it's necessarily indiscriminate. We are briefed to get airborne ASAP, get the gear up, the Master Armament switch ON and to start firing immediately for the deterrent effect. We don't really need a valid target. It's called suppressive fire and it's very effective. It has_a very good kill ratio. That 737 out of Reagan was a bit unfortunate but peripheral damage is always on the cards. On the bright side though, _I only need four more and I'll be an ace."
_
Captain Mohammedan's wingman, Lieutenant "Crotch" Biharibyjove said: " I found it much the same with those balloons. They were flying so slowly that when I slowed down to pull up alongside to make the usual intercept hand-signals and flash my handheld sign, the bluddy airplane stalled and I nearly crashed into the WhiteHouse. We need new stand-off weaponry so I hope that the Pentagon weapons_acquisition people are taking notice." In a later development an unnamed Defence Department spokesperson said that, as an interim measure, and to minimize human error,_a Predator armed with Hellfire missiles was to be made available for short-notice_defence aggressor missions over the nation's capital. A nuclear missile is known to be under development for improving kill certainty in such engagements.
_
Scores of evacuees killed by F-16 cannon fire.

Capitol Police Chief Ivan Otaclue said : "The peripheral damage casualties are regrettable but I had to issue the order to open fire on those balloons. They may have been full of anthrax spores or Islamic propaganda leaflets from Al Qaeda seeking to poison public opinion. The child who later admitted to ownership of the balloons is undergoing ongoing round-the-clock interrogation by a team of FBI Agents." Homeland Security spokesperson Ergan Fergandirgle said that such attacks had to be expected as he explained the intelligence behind the latest escalation of the Terror Threat Alert Levels. A Final_Analysis of the civilian casualties has revealed that many died not from the aircraft cannon fire but had been run down by the fleet of_large black armored_SUV's carrying the scores of politicians and key departmental heads_fleeing the city.
_
The absence or presence of the President could neither be confirmed nor denied however three conflicting reports have him picknicking at Camp David, golfing in Florida or mending fences on his Texas ranch. A White House spokesman commented that any impromptu terrorist attack on the White House would have to be extremely lucky to find the President there. He further advised that the President's signature was being loaded into Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's autoscripter and that letters of regret would soon be sent out to all the families of the latest victims of this new Al Qaeda Terror Campaign. We all have our part to play in the War on Terror. Absolutely everybody has a place in the front-line in this war." he said.
_

Reuters Correspondent Proper Charlie reporting from the nation's capital (with additional reporting by AP's Mass Hysteria)

[BEagle]

You and I in a little toy shop
Buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got
Set them free at the break of dawn
Til one by one, they were gone
Back at base bugs in the software
Flash the message, something's out there
Floating in the summer sky
99 red balloons go by

99 red balloons
Floating in the summer sky
Panic bells it's red alert
There's something here from somewhere else
The war machine springs to life
Opens up one eager eye
Focusing it on the sky as 99 red balloons go by

99 Decision street
99 ministers meet
To worry, worry, super flurry
Call the troops out in a hurry
This is what we've waited for
This is it boys, this is war
The president is on the line
As 99 red balloons go by

99 knights of the air
Ride super high tech jet fighters
Everyone's a super hero, Everyone's a Captain Kirk
With orders to identify
To clarify, and classify
Scramble in the summer sky
99 red balloons go by

99 dreams I have had; in every one a red balloon
It's all over and I'm standing pretty
In this dust that was a city
If I could find a souvenir
Just to prove the world was here
And here is a red balloon
I think of you, and let it go

By Nena, 1984 (whose lead singer Nina Kerner was quite a babe). Somewhat prophetic?

The song was better in its original German:

Hast du etwas Zeit für mich
Dann singe ich ein Lied für dich
Von 99 Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Denkst du vielleicht g'rad an mich
Singe ich ein Lied für dich
Von 99 Luftballons
Und das sowas von sowas kommt

99 Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Hielt man für Ufos aus dem All
Darum schickte ein General
'Ne Fliegerstaffel hinterher
Alarm zu geben wenn's so wär
Dabei war'n dort am Horizont
Nur 99 Luftballons

99 Düsenflieger
Jeder war ein grosser Krieger
Hielten sich für Captain Kirk
Das gab ein grosses Feuerwerk
Die Nachbarn haben nichts gerafft
Und fühlten sich gleich angemacht
Dabei schoss man am Horizont
Auf 99 Luftballons

99 Kriegsminister
Streichholz und Benzinkanister
Hielten sich für schlaue Leute
Witterten schon fette Beute
Riefen: Krieg und wollten Macht
Man wer hätte das gedacht
Das es einmal so weit kommt
Wegen 99 Luftballons

Wegen 99 Luftballons

99 Luftballons

99 Jahre Krieg
Liessen keinen Platz für Sieger
Kriegsminister gibt's nicht mehr
Und auch keine Düsenflieger
Heute zieh ich meine Runden
Seh' die Welt in Trümmern liegen
Hab' 'nen Luftballon gefunden
Denk' an dich und lass' ihn fliegen

[ProfessionalStudent]

Beagle

You have more time on your hands than we thought...!

She was quite a fox though;)

[MajorMadMax]

It's Nena Kerner (http://www.nndb.com/people/934/000047793/), BTW...

http://www.nndb.com/people/934/000047793/nena.jpg

Cheers! M2

[BEagle]

Ooops, my spooling mitsake! Sorry!

Ja, she vos ein Fuchs!

[Onan the Clumsy]

Oui. Elle etait une renard.

[Circuit Basher]

Beagle

Excellent to post the words (and the English translation!) for 99 LuftBallons!

Was working in Germany in 83 when it was out and used to really enjoy it (BFBS used to play it lots!). Never actually seen all the words in English (even though I was back in UK when the translated version was released).

Used to have a thing about Nena in those days! http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/aetsch/cheeky-smiley-033.gif http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/aetsch/cheeky-smiley-006.gif http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/liebe/love-smiley-039.gif ;)

PS One of the German techs I used to work with used to change the second line of the German from 'Dann singe ich ein Lied für dich' to 'Dann schwinge ich ein Glied für dich', which was rather less polite!! ;) I'll let a German speaking PPRuNer translate!!

[BEagle]

;)

"Then I'll swing your d*ck for you", perhaps? Or would be if it was 'Dein Glied fuer dich'....

Mein 'O' level Deutsch vos 1965 - since then "Noch ein Weissbier, bitte" is about my limit!

Aber Nena, mein Gleid fuer mich schwingen, venever she vonts, may!

:E

I wonder whether BFBS knew it was an anti-war song?

[ScienceDoc]

translation more or less: :ok:

("your" -> "a")