Aircraft intercepted near Milwaukee for flying in RNC’s restricted flight zone

Listen to this article

By Maia Pandey

Aerospace officials intercepted an aircraft Tuesday afternoon that was flying within the temporarily restricted flight zone during the Republican National Convention, the North American Aerospace Defense Command announced Tuesday.

The Federal Aviation Administration has implemented temporary flight restrictions in and around Milwaukee throughout the RNC, including temporarily barring drones within a 30-mile radius of downtown Milwaukee. The aircraft intercepted Tuesday was flying 24 miles southwest of Milwaukee and wasn’t in communication with air traffic control.

NORAD didn’t specify the type of aircraft it intercepted or the identity of the pilot, but flight tracking data indicates an aircraft was flying from Indiana to Oshkosh this afternoon. The aircraft took off at 3:22 p.m. and was scheduled to land at 4:59 p.m.

Officials dispatched an F-35 aircraft — a fighter jet — to intercept the aircraft at approximately 3:30 p.m. The jet “located the general aviation aircraft in question and safely escorted them out of the area,” officials said in a news release.

People in the area may have noticed the F-35 aircraft, which was flying low to the ground at 4,000 feet.

This article first appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and was republished with permission.