Fri, Nov 21, 2003
Fighters Scrambled Just In Case
It was a blip on radar,
but these days, Washington figures you just can't be too careful.
The White House was evacuated and even Wall Street held its breath
for a time until the airspace over Washington was finally sorted
out.
"We've got our eyes on a particular corridor over the capital
24/7 and if the slightest infringement of that air space can't be
identified then we're inclined to evacuate principals in the White
House,'' said Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.
"It's an inconvenience but unfortunately in the post-9/11 world
we've got to deal with it.''
It happened about 9:20am (EST) when the blip suddenly showed up
on radar, apparently inside the Washington ADIZ. In a sign of just
how nervous the nation still is in the wake of the terror attacks
on New York and Washington, Secret Service agents immediately
evacuated the White House, even though the president and First Lady
were in London at the time. Vice President Dick Cheney was whisked
away in a motorcade to an undisclosed location.
Secret Service agents armed with shotguns shooed away a group of
visiting school children along with senior administration
staffers.
Two F-16s were scrambled from Andrews AFB in nearby Maryland to
check out the blip. There was nothing to it.
"The fighters
determined that there was no threat but continued to patrol the
area,'' said NORAD spokeswoman Maj. Eric Butterbaugh (USAF).
"There was never a plane. It was a blip on one radar,'' said
FAA spokeswoman Rebecca Trexler.
The Secret Service ended the evacuation after "the airspace
violation was determined to be a radar anomaly.''
Still, Wall Street slid for a time during the incident, keeping
one eye on a pair of terror blasts that killed 27 people in Turkey
earlier in the day.
Back at the White House, a spokesman said after the all-clear
was sounded, "The mood is fine."
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