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FOX 11 reporter takes flight with NORAD
FOX 11's Christina Gonzalez got the chance to go on a fun and unique ride with NORAD. You might have heard of NORAD during the holidays as they track Santa Claus, but their job is to keep North American airspace safe.
LOS ANGELES - FOX 11 got the opportunity to fly with NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command. The joint US/Canada force is the largest bi-national military command in the world. Their mission is to deter, detect, and defeat aerospace threats in North America.
With the World Cup and Olympics around the corner, NORAD expects more TFR's. Those are temporary flight restrictions ordered by the FAA to protect the airspace around big events from security threats.
Believe it or not, people in private planes cross into TFR's almost every day. Usually, they are warned by traffic controllers in nearby towers, and fly out of them without incident. Too often, says Lt. Colonel Jeff "Vader" Brandon, recreational pilots don't hear the radio transmissions. That's when NORAD fighter jets are deployed and that's what we got to see first-hand, while aboard what they call a TOI or target of interest.
Nothing like having an armed F-15 suddenly appear next to you, out of nowhere. Ideally, that should be enough for any pilot to realize something is wrong and check if their radio is working. In FOX 11's footage, NORAD fighter jets can be seen shadowing our plane, even crossing in front of us and jolting the aircraft with powerful turbulence known as jet wash.
Over the radio, they clearly state that if we don't move, we will be shot. The jets are armed and ready to use their weapons, which NORAD does not take lightly.
"The last thing we want to do is shoot down a civilian plane," LT. Colonel James "Buca" Kettles said. "Ideally, the pilot realized they are in the wrong place and follows us out of there."
NORAD was supposed to demo some of these moves at this weekend's Pacific Airshow in Huntington Beach, but due to the government shutdown they will no longer be there. No American military acts will be present at the airshow. But the show will go on, with acts like the Canadian Forces Snowbirds and UK's Royal Air Falcons.
RELATED: Government shutdown halts US military planes at Pacific Airshow
The Source: Information for this story came from NORAD.