New Yorkers, and certainly their mayor Bill de Blasio, complained bitterly about the traffic chaos unleashed by then president-elect Donald Trump when he used his Fifth Avenue-located Trump Tower as campaign headquarters, resulting in logistical and security chaos. Now it's the turn of Palm Beach, where Trump resides on most weekends in his Mar-A-Lago "Winter White House" (at a cost to taxpayers of approximately $3 million per trip).
On Friday evening, two F-15s caused a sonic boom as they were scrambled from their base in Homestead, Florida, to intercept an unresponsive general aviation aircraft that flew near Palm Beach during a stay by President Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Fox News reported. The jets flew at supersonic speeds the North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD, said in a statement leading to started residents confused by the loud noise.
The two fighters were able to establish communication with the aircraft. This incident occured at about 7 p.m. ET. No further details were immediately available. "The intent of military intercepts is to have the identified aircraft re-establish communications with local FAA air traffic controllers and instruct the pilot to follow air traffic controllers' instructions to land safely for follow-on action," the statement read.
"The intent of military intercepts is to have the identified aircraft re-establish communications with local FAA air traffic controllers and instruct the pilot to follow air traffic controllers' instructions to land safely for follow-on action," the statement read.
This was the latest airborne incident involving President Trump Earlier this month, a private plane got within 2 nautical miles of Air Force One, which is closer than permitted, while flying over Florida and the incident is being investigated by authorities, Bloomberg reported.
The planes were flying on a parallel route and there was no risk of a collision during the incident, which occurred 30 miles out on Feb. 3, sources told the news agency. President Trump arrived safely at Palm Beach International Airport. The report said that when Air Force One is in flight, Secret Service agents work with FAA supervisors and monitor for threats.