Washington DC and the region around it sits under highly monitored restricted airspace, known as the Washington DC Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). As you fly closer to the center of this zone, the restrictions become increasingly intense, with the areas over the National Mall and the National Observatory being totally restricted to civilian and commercial aircraft.
A 61 year old mailman from Florida flew a USPS adorned gyrocopter onto the Capitol lawn yesterday. He came in low over northeast D.C. around 1:20pm and then turned by the Washington Monument and flew right up the Mall. According to NORAD, the aircraft was never detected, which is not a good thing.
The rest of this interesting article is posted online at http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/gyrocopter-exposes-weaknesses-in-d-c-s-elaborate-air-de-1698170601
