Fighter jet escorts plane away from Chicago airspace
BY JAMES SCALZITTI Staff Reporter/jscalzitti@suntimes.com June 16, 2012 2:10PM
An F-15 fighter jet escorted an small engine airplane out of a temporary restricted flight area in Chicago Saturday morning.
Under the direction of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the F-15 intercepted the plane at 10:30 a.m. and escorted it out of the restricted area 15 minutes later.
President Barack Obama and his family are in town this weekend, to attend the wedding of Laura Jarrett, the daughter of Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.
NORAD’s mission – in close collaboration with homeland defense, security, and law enforcement partners – is to prevent air attacks against North America, safeguard the sovereign airspaces of the United States and Canada by responding to unknown, unwanted and unauthorized air activity approaching and operating within these airspaces, and provide aerospace and maritime warning for North America, according to officials.
