Fighter aircraft from the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) intercepted five planes which had violated temporary flight restrictions (TFR) over Houston at the time when President Donald Trump was visiting the Texas city. The F-16 aircraft were deployed to intercept the general aviation aircraft on Friday and escort them out of the area, NORAD said in a statement. Currently, there is no further information on the type of aircraft intercepted.
There have been several incidents involving aircraft violating restrictions imposed near Trump's location, including over Bedminster, New Jersey, the location of Trump's golf club. The incidents have prompted calls for pilots to verify Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) Notice to Air Missions (NOTAMs) before flights. Other violations occurred over Virginia last year when Trump was at Naval Station Norfolk to host a Salute to the Fleet, honoring the Navy as part of its 250th birthday.
NORAD said that Friday’s interception was the latest among “multiple recent TFR violations” and that there needed to be a push to reduce the number. "Safeguarding our shared airspace is a mission where every single aviator has a vital role to play," said Royal Canadian Air Force Major-General David Moar, Director of NORAD Operations in the statement which did not mention Trump’s visit to the city. Newsweek has contacted NORAD for further comment.
Trump was in Houston Friday to award congressional space medals of honor to crew members of Artemis II who flew around the Moon and back in April, for the first mission around lunar territory for five decades. Trump had previously hosted the crew members at the White House and called them during the mission. On board were NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and the Canadian Space Agency's Jeremy Hansen.
"We have to honor the heroes who are inspiring the next generation of astronauts and pioneers and the people behind me," Trump said on Friday at NASA's astronaut corps at the Johnson Space Center. Trump signed an executive order on Friday to create the United States Space Academy aimed at training the next generation of astronauts, scientists, engineers, operators, civil servants and military personnel for the space sector. The order establishes a Presidential Commission on the United States Space Academy to advise Trump on the proposed NASA-led federal academy.
The commission has 120 days to create guidelines for the academy which NASA has proposed to be located at its Johnson Space Center in Houston, although Trump’s order directs the commission to recommend a permanent location. The Commission will include NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Trump's Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and Michael Kratsios, assistant to the president for science and technology. Trump said it would serve both the United States Space Force as well as NASA and the civilian spaceflight industry and “will attract, train, graduate the very best that our nation and our nation really has to offer." Contact Newsweek editor on this story: Edward Pearcey.
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