Friday, January 08, 2010

NORAD Launches F-16s Due to Unruly Passenger

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - For the second straight day, fighter jets under the direction of North American Aerospace Defense Command launched in response to trouble with a passenger aboard a commercial airliner.

Two F-16 fighters launched at 11:44 a.m. MST today in response to reports of an unruly passenger aboard Air Tran Flight 39 from Atlanta bound for San Francisco.

Yesterday, F-15 fighters intercepted Hawaiian Airlines Flight 39 after a passenger caused a disturbance on the plane, which returned to Portland, Ore.

In today's incident, the fighters arrived over Colorado Springs Municipal Airport in Colorado as the pilot of the commercial airliner landed the Boeing 737 there safely at about noon MST, where the plane was met by law enforcement officers.