NORAD fighters down two planes

Las Vegas - Two NORAD fighters were scrambled to escort two different single engine planes that encroached on the air space over Las Vegas last week.

On two different occasions NORAD had to scrambled fighters to escort two different single engine planes that had encroached on the temporary flight restricted air space over Las Vegas during President Obama's visit to the desert city. NORAD, which is the North American Aerospace Defense Command is a joint effort between the United States and Canada in order to protect against possible air attacks against North America. NORAD works closely with the Department of Homeland Security and other law enforcement groups. On Friday a Cesena 210 was detected around 7:05 A.M. PDT and intercepted by the fighters forcing it to land at North Las Vegas Airport. Later at approximately 7:34 A.M. PDT a general aviation plane was intercepted and it was forced to land in Mesquite, Nevada. Both planes were met by authorities once they were on the group and the pilots were questioned about their flight paths. A "temporary flight restriction" is put in place by NOTAM or Notice to Airmen usually to keep certain areas of airspace clear for emergency aircraft personnel, air shows, or in the event like on Friday where the President is in a certain location. Pilots can go to the FAA website to check their flight plan against possible TFRs.