''You may be shot down.'

[wv2vvl]

Not the usual scanner traffic for a lazy Labor Day afternoon. I didn't record it but this is what I wrote down shortly after. You can fill in the blanks.

1900Z 121.5 '...aircraft on Guard. You have entered restricted airspace & will be intercepted by an armed air defense fighter. Please identify with your callsign.' Strong OM, so well within 50M of me.

1906Z F-15 from Langley AFB: ...5 miles north of Brandywine Airport. Turn north...If you do not comply you may be shot down. Acknowledge by rocking you wings.'

President Biden may be home in Wilmington, DE as this referenced airport is in West Chester, PA, not far from the Biden home in Wilmington, DE. As you can see, they take security seriously & establish Restricted areas around his location. And that airport is less than 20 miles from me.

I am very impressed with the fact that it only took 6 minutes for a fighter to respond.

Jack
NE PA
ICOM IC-R8600/DIAMOND 3000 Superdiscone

 

[RaleighGuy]

President Biden may be home in Wilmington, DE as this referenced airport is in West Chester, PA, not far from the Biden home in Wilmington, DE. As you can see, they take security seriously & establish Restricted areas around his location. And that airport is less than 20 miles from me.

I am very impressed with the fact that it only took 6 minutes for a fighter to respond.

Biden is indeed in Wilmington this weekend and two fighters, along with one tanker continue to circle the area from early morn until late evening (dawn to dusk basically) whenever he is there, or at Camp David. The warning you heard is a standard warning heard many times, by pilots that wander into the restricted air space.

Thanks for the sighting and update.

 

[AI7PM]

I am very impressed with the fact that it only took 6 minutes for a fighter to respond.

I'd give an educated guess the fighters were already airborne and just drifted down from their perch. The initial transmissions you heard probably originated from an AWACS, which was already running the intercept on a different frequency.

 

[kennyloatman]

I heard this conversation also but only from the fighter side, Never heard the other aircraft respond.

 

[trentbob]

This is something that we hear regularly on VHF guard in the East Coast. You're picking up the jet because of its altitude but he usually drops down to the altitude of the offending aircraft as they enter a restricted Zone. Usually what I hear is you have been intercepted by an armed military aircraft make an immediate right turn and rock your wings to acknowledge LOL. If they're not monitoring the VHF guard as they're required to and other Jets show up they will fire flares in the front of the plane. Happens more often than not LOL.

 

[hill]

The fighters are part of the Wilmington CAP and two are basically airborne during daylight hours when the President is home. The fighters will switch off to a new pair after their time in the air is up. They are up in the 26k feet altitude range, but drop down quickly.

The is also a KC-135 or KC-10 tanker to top them up almost every hour.

Much discussion on this activity in the Military Air thread in the Maryland Forum on this site.

 

[trentbob]

Yep everyone should monitor the VHF guard 121.5... because of the altitude of the planes you will hear them loud and clear. Many interceptions recently, again if they don't respond or not listing to guard as they should be more jet show up and they fire flares.

 

[west-pac]

The fighters are part of the Wilmington CAP

Since when does the Civil Air Patrol fly fighter jets?

 

[Thunderknight]

Since when does the Civil Air Patrol fly fighter jets?

It’s not the Civil Air Patrol. I can’t remember what CAP stands for in this case, but they are the flights that patrol the restricted air spaces.

 

[trentbob]

This is the protection over the Wilmington- Camp David area. It is very active, especially on the weekends and it is not unusual to hear on VHF guard... "you have been intercepted by an armed military aircraft turn to your right immediately and rock your wings to acknowledge", if they don't respond more Jets will show up and flares will be fired across the bow and the plane will be brought to the ground. This is very common and happens all the time. Bad day for that pilot for not knowing restricted airspace.

 

[KG4INW]

It’s not the Civil Air Patrol. I can’t remember what CAP stands for in this case, but they are the flights that patrol the restricted air spaces.

Combat air patrol in this case.

 

[wv2vvl]

Not the usual scanner traffic for a lazy Labor Day afternoon. I didn't record it but this is what I wrote down shortly after. You can fill in the blanks.

1900Z 121.5 '...aircraft on Guard. You have entered restricted airspace & will be intercepted by an armed air defense fighter. Please identify with your callsign.' Strong OM, so well within 50M of me.

1906Z F-15 from Langley AFB: ...5 miles north of Brandywine Airport. Turn north...If you do not comply you may be shot down. Acknowledge by rocking you wings.'

President Biden may be home in Wilmington, DE as this referenced airport is in West Chester, PA, not far from the Biden home in Wilmington, DE. As you can see, they take security seriously & establish Restricted areas around his location. And that airport is less than 20 miles from me.

I am very impressed with the fact that it only took 6 minutes for a fighter to respond.

Jack
NE PA
ICOM IC-R8600/DIAMOND 3000 Superdiscone

That the base side of this was from an AWACS makes sense as the OM was stronger than I would have expected from a ground station that far away.

Pilots who violate these restricted spaces are arrested after they land. They can lose their flying certificate for 6 months for this.

Jack

 

[AK9R]

Is this the incident you guys are discussing?

 

[wv2vvl]

Is this the incident you guys are discussing?

Seems so. I appear to have copied both the AWACS & the F-15 but not the Phila APPCON or the private plane. Thanks for posting. That site is new to me.

Jack

 

[TerryPavlick]

Okay let me help out a bit here.

When President Biden is at his home in Greenville Delaware there is a CAP (Combat Air Patrol) set up with Huntress (NORAD NE Sector and F16 fighter aircraft from various locations. Currently the fighters are staging out of Alabama but can remain overnight at Langley AFB in Virginia to lessen the travel time and fuel. In support of the fighters, various tankers (one at a time) come in to refuel and support the mission.

The fighters and tankers along with ground based USCG helicopters coordinate with Huntress on 260.900 or 228.900 depending on how the plan of action is for that particular day. The refueling is generally performed on 247.050 with the fighters and tanker coordinating amongst themselves.

All radar coverage is based on ground radar, no AWACS aircraft are deployed for this particular CAP. There is sufficient FAA radar to cover the TFR that is in place. Data for the targets of interest (TOI) are fed via data link to and from the fighters from Huntress through the link transmitters located at Atlantic City and Andrews AFB.

Fighters communicate between themselves on various air air frequencies that can be found in the thread as described in previous messages for the state of Maryland.

Hope this answers some questions and makes the monitoring more fun.

Terry

 

[zob-slantzero]

I thought that the FAA changed TOI from target of interest to track of interest. I guess that target had such a negative sound to it.

 

[N9PBD]

I thought that the FAA changed TOI from target of interest to track of interest. I guess that target had such a negative sound to it.

At least it does when you are the target of interest...

 

[paulears]

It just goes to show that smaller planes do not monitor guard. From what I read he had both channels of his radio tuned to the small airport and the local ATIS. Perfectly normal it seems for general aviation with less than commercial spec radios. My flying friends here in the UK would have 121.5 way down the list even if they could have three channels on the go. If there are two or more centres of activity in a region, everyone makes a choice. Calling on guard nowadays would have very few responses. His mistake of course was simply not reading the available flight info, before making the flight.

 

[TerryPavlick]

I thought that the FAA changed TOI from target of interest to track of interest. I guess that target had such a negative sound to it.

Yes technically follows is the current definition and since they are basically radar tracks that are shared between Huntress and the fighters it makes more sense. Appreciate the input.

TRACK OF INTEREST (TOI)− Displayed data
representing an airborne object that threatens or has
the potential to threaten North America or National
Security. Indicators may include, but are not limited
to: noncompliance with air traffic control instructions
or aviation regulations; extended loss of communications;
unusual transmissions or unusual flight
behavior; unauthorized intrusion into controlled
airspace or an ADIZ; noncompliance with issued
flight restrictions/security procedures; or unlawful
interference with airborne flight crews, up to and
including hijack. In certain circumstances, an object
may become a TOI based on specific and credible
intelligence pertaining to that particular aircraft/
object, its passengers, or its cargo.

 

[TerryPavlick]

It just goes to show that smaller planes do not monitor guard. From what I read he had both channels of his radio tuned to the small airport and the local ATIS. Perfectly normal it seems for general aviation with less than commercial spec radios. My flying friends here in the UK would have 121.5 way down the list even if they could have three channels on the go. If there are two or more centres of activity in a region, everyone makes a choice. Calling on guard nowadays would have very few responses. His mistake of course was simply not reading the available flight info, before making the flight.

Totally agree. I would imagine most general aviation pilots who do not know about the TFR in place and are basically out for a Sunday drive (fly) or just hop in the aircraft and fly VFR are not going to add 121.500 into the radios and are probably not concerned about it anyway. Unfortunately sometimes they have to learn the hard way. A fighter jet escort and being met by a police or USCG helo on the ground (or law enforcement vehicle of any sort) is probably not what they planned for when they departed.