Beech Bonanza in Camp David airspace intercepted by F15's

The Story:

reuters.com/article/2011/06/ … LN20110611

The intercepted flight:

flightaware.com/live/flight/N25M … /KALB/KHGR

Since a flight plan was obviously filed and the pilot should have been in contact with controllers, I don’t understand how something like this happens. Never mind reviewing your maps and NOTAMs etc.

Looking at the track log he was at an IFR altitude so either he was at the wrong altitude or the article was wrong. It looks like they made him land at Hagerstown instead of his original destination.

He was originally headed to KPSK but that path would have taken him right over Camp David.

Very easy to see how this can happen having flown in the area myself. Human nature prevails.

NORDO comes to mind, but since he did eventually get contacted, sounds like distraction as an hypothesis of mine. Lots of radio traffic, distraction inside the plane very easy to miss your tail number.

I flew in from the opposite direction and very little space resides between you and Camp David expanded P40 when flying MRB to EMI (he was heading to MRB per routing in FA)

Suffice it to say, it’s not an area to be flying if you are not on top of your game.

He was on an IFR flight plan- he shoulve have never been given a clearance through that area.
try and cut the corner on either side of the base of the shaft of Florida when the Waring areas are active. You’ll get a full route clearance around that area.

If he didn’t navigate and was off course… well then send him the bill for the jet fuel from the F-15’s

His filed route was about 1/4 mile NW of P40 not expanded looking in ForeFlight and FA.

I am betting he got cleared as file when he picked up the clearance and ATC let the ATC controllers down the line deal with what would be an amendment.

I know I would have never filed what was in the route (ALB LHY MRB) in Flight Aware as he was never on an airway.

My guess is that he never noticed P40 in planning.

When prez is in town, P40 expands exponentially which expands within a couple miles of V166 (when I was in town). His intended flight path would have just about put him through the center of the expanded P40.

You can bet when I was in those neck of the woods I didn’t let the CDI get a hairsbreath off of the airway centerline. :smiley: