Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Agencie France Presse:

US President Barack Obama was briefly “relocated” by the Secret Service Friday after a single-engine plane entered restricted airspace over the US capital, his spokesman said.

“The president was briefly relocated out of an abundance of caution, as was the vice president,” said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, adding it was the first time in the Obama presidency he had heard of such precautions being taken.

Two Air Force F-16 fighters and two Coast Guard helicopters intercepted the small aircraft at about 12:30 local time (1630 GMT), a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) told AFP.

The pilot of the Piper Cub plane was contacted by radio and was immediately “compliant,” Lieutenant Commander Gary Ross said.

The plane was escorted to a local airport about 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of the capital, where the pilot was “met by local law enforcement,” Ross said.

During the incident, the White House was temporarily on a “lockdown” security alert and the Secret Service shut down Lafayette Square adjacent to the presidential mansion.

The alert was lifted after about 10 minutes.

In the US Congress, a security alert lasted about 15 minutes and senators were asked to leave the chamber at one point, police said.

Security around the US capital was dramatically stepped up and restricted airspace expanded after September 11, 2001, when Al-Qaeda agents flew hijacked airliners into the Pentagon and the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York.

A fourth hijacked plane was believed headed toward Congress or the White House when it crashed in Pennsylvania following a revolt by the passengers.

AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) - A small, single-engine plane strayed into restricted air space near the U.S. Capitol on Friday, forcing anxious officials to place the White House in temporary lockdown and take steps to evacuate the U.S. Capitol.

The episode was over within minutes as two F-16 fighter jets and two Coast Guard helicopters were dispatched to intercept the plane and escort it to an airport in Maryland, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. U.S. Northern Command spokesman Michael Kucharek said the two helicopters established communications with the pilot.

The plane landed at Indian Head Airport in Charles County, Md., where airport owner Gil Bauserman said the aircraft had been flying from Maine to North Carolina. Bauserman said the military notified the airport that the plane would be making an unscheduled landing at 12:45 p.m. EDT. The plane landed 15 minutes later, escorted by the F-16s and the helicopters.

“It was just a navigation mistake, the GPS went and the pilot got confused,” Bauserman said in an interview with The Associated Press.

“This has happened many times. The restricted zone in D.C., all it does is catch poor innocent people. They’ve never caught a terrorist, it’s just people making a mistake,” he said.

The airport, with a runway of about 3,000 feet, is located about 12 miles south of Andrews Air Force Base.

The pilot and his wife were en route to North Carolina to visit the couple’s daughter, according to Bauserman.

President Barack Obama was believed to be in the White House at the time. The White House declined to say where the president was, but Obama went ahead with a 1:30 p.m. EDT appearance in the Diplomatic Reception Room to discuss affordable college education.

The Senate was in session, and briefly recessed. The House was not meeting.