CBs or F-16s

[RatherBeFlying]

Stray Plane Sets Off Evacuation Of Capitol (free registration may be required) (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/29/AR2005062902957.html) The pilot of the Beech King had filed a flight plan to fly from Wilmington, Del., to Defiance, Ohio, the Federal Aviation Administration said. But after takeoff at 6:06 p.m., the pilot canceled the plan and switched the plane's transponder code to [VFR] ... The plane was flying about 310 mph at times, FAA officials said.

At 6:18 p.m., the plane entered the north edge of the Washington restricted airspace ... when it was intercepted by fighter jets.

A federal official said radio communication between the pilot and authorities indicated that the pilot ended up in the restricted area while trying to avoid bad weather.CBs or F-16s followed by high-risk takedown and a stack of forms to fill out while in handcuffs:uhoh:

Link repaired courtesy Crotalo.

Cancelling IFR to work around CBs might not work so well near restricted airspace as Crotalo rightly points out below.

[Crótalo]

The link doesn't work, so I'm not sure if you're referring to the same event I'm thinking of, which occurred yesterday.
Edited to add -- I think I found it -- here's the link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/29/AR2005062902957.html

Noting the nasty weather which moved through the DC area yesterday, the correct choice might have been "neither", i.e., hold off until the weather passes, or route-study a weather-deviation route that does not take you toward prohibited and/or restricted airspace.

And while the above statement may sound judgmental, it isn't meant to be. I do realize that we're speaking with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, and the pilots were dealing with the situation real-time.

But their experience can remind us that there is a significant amount of restricted and/or prohibited airspace in the DC area, plus 3 major airports. Hence you don't have a lot of room for weather deviations. Combine this with the fact that their intended destination was northwest of their departure airport, but that DC is 100 miles southwest of their departure airport, and it becomes obvious that weather deviations had probably been a factor for some distance already.