Fighter jets intercepted another aircraft flying near President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, after “excessive” violations of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)’s temporary flight restrictions.
Sunday’s incident makes for the second time in one weekend that NORAD had to intercept an aircraft in the skies above President Trump’s Florida home, where the airspace is currently restricted.
Another flight had to be intercepted by U.S. fighter jets Saturday morning.
“The civilian aircraft violated the Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) at approximately 1:15 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time,” NORAD officials revealed in a Sunday statement.
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“During the intercept, NORAD aircraft dispensed flares, which may have been visible to the public,” officials continued, adding that “flares are employed with the highest regard for safety, burn out quickly and completely, and pose no danger to people on the ground.”
NORAD’s F-16 fighter jets escorted the aircraft safely out of the area, the agency said.
“Adherence to TFR procedures is essential to ensure flight safety, national security, and the security of the President,” NORAD Commander General Gregory Guillot said.
General Guillot went on to warn pilots that these policies “are not optional,” and advised aviators to read Notice to Airmen (NOTAM), which informs pilots of potential hazards or changes to the National Airspace System (NAS).
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“The procedures are not optional, and the excessive number of recent TFR violations indicates many civil aviators are not reading Notice to Airmen, or NOTAMs, before each flight as required by the FAA, and has resulted in multiple responses by NORAD fighter aircraft to guide offending aircraft out of the TFR,” Guillot said.
“Should the pilot of an aircraft happen to find itself intercepted by one of our fighters or helicopters, they should immediately come up on frequency 121.5 or 243.0 and turn around to reverse course until receiving additional instructions on one of those frequencies,” the general added.
NORAD, which is tasked with monitoring and defending North American airspace, went on to disclose that it has intercepted more than 20 flight violations over Mar-a-Lago since President Trump took office just seven weeks ago.
“Since the January 20, 2025 presidential inauguration, NORAD has responded to over 20 tracks of interest entering the Palm Beach, Florida TFR area,” the agency said.
President Trump’s visits to Mar-a-Lago trigger the temporary flight restrictions, which apply to all aircraft, including commercial jetliners, according to a report by Palm Beach Daily News, which noted the president was at his Mar-a-Lago estate when the violation occurred.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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