White House Evacuated? Air Space Breached?

[NewComputer]

What is going on... I cannot get on to any news sites...

[T0PS3O]

All clear now:


The all-clear has been given after the White House and Congress in Washington were evacuated when a small plane entered a no-fly zone over the capital.

Staff from Congress were seen running out of the Capitol, after the alert was given just before noon (1600GMT).

A number of other government buildings, including the Treasury department and the Supreme Court, told staff to move to safer locations.

The Secret Service allowed staff to return to their offices minutes later.

F-16 fighters jets were scrambled and headed off the single-engine aircraft.

An official of the Homeland Security Department identified the mystery plane as a Cessna light aircraft.

US President George W Bush is understood not to have been in the White House at the time.

[chachi]

Never ceases to amaze me how stupid people are.

[mopacfan]

Never ceases to amaze me how stupid people are.
If 'common sense' were indeed common, more people would have it.

[arun_infy]

Source : USA Today..

White House, Capitol evacuated after airspace violated
From staff and wire reports
WASHINGTON — The White House and the Capitol Building were evacuated about noon Wednesday after a small plane entered restricted airspace, but the evacuation was lifted about 20 minutes later.

A senior law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press the alarm was caused by an aircraft incursion over the protected airspace over Washington but there was no indication a terrorist attack was under way. The plane — a Cessna — was approached by a fighter aircraft and veered away, the official said.

Sen. George Allen, R-Va., told CNN the plane had been forced to land at an airport in Leesburg, Va., about 35 miles from Washington.

Employees of several other government buildings, including the Treasury Department and the U.S. Supreme Court, also were evacuated.

The incident sparked a flurry of emergency activity throughout the capital, which was targeted on Sept. 11, 2001 and has been under a heightened state of alert since then. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., was on the Senate floor when police told him they needed to evacuate.

"They said get out of here, so I ran. There's no joking about this kind of stuff," Shelby said.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert was on the House floor talking to members when the evacuation siren went off. He left quickly with his security detail.Two large black armored SUVs often used by House and Senate leaders sped away from the Capitol as a military jet flow overhead.

"People were surprised. I was surprised," said Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, who was on the House floor when the evacuation began. "There was so much commotion in the gallery. People were yelling in the gallery. We thought something had happened in the gallery, and then the alarm came to evacuate."

Reporters in the White House were told to move to a more secure location. A guard in the West Wing of the White House shouted at reporters, "Go down into the basement."

"Leave, run," security officers shouted to staff and reporters at the Capitol.

"This is not a drill," guards shouted as they moved people away from the building.

President Bush was exercising on his bicycle and was not at the White House at the time. CNN reported Vice President Cheney was at the White House and was evacuated; a motorcade was seen speeding away from the White House shortly after the evacuation notice was given.

Shortly after noon, officers rushed through the Supreme Court building and told staff to get into the basement. At the Treasury Department, people were moved across the street.

Washington's Reagan National Airport has been closed to general aviation since the Sept. 11 attacks. In the three-plus years since then, hundreds of small planes have flown within the restricted airspace around the capital. However, it's rare for fighter jets to be scrambled.

In the most dramatic incident since the Sept. 11 attacks, thousands of people fled the Capitol, packed with members of Congress and other dignitaries, when a plane flew into the restricted air space just before the funeral procession for President Ronald Reagan last June. A communications breakdown led federal officials to believe the plane might be targeting the Capitol, but it turned out to be carrying Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher, who had been cleared to fly into the area.

Contributing: The Associated Press.

[chachi]

I hope someone has a picture of that guy's face when the F16 pulled up along side

[ResaleBroker]

Between that and this I'm sure President Bush is on his toes:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/05/11/bush.georgia/index.html

[chachi]

This is funny It never posed a danger to Bush and was apparently placed by someone who wanted to scare people in the crowd and attract media attention, Donadze said.

I think it was Putin.

[stephfoster]

At least the system worked. Wouldn't want to be that pilot right now. I wonder how much trouble he's in.