Biden Lake Tahoe: Flares fired as civilian aircraft violates flight restriction near President's vacation spot

FILE – A Lockheed Martin F-16 Jet fighter performs its demonstration flight, June 22, 2011, at the 49th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, east of Paris. People living in and around Washington D.C. experienced a rare, if startling, sound: A sonic boom. The U.S. military had dispatched a fighter jet on Sunday, June 4, 2023, to intercept an unresponsive business plane that was flying over restricted airspace. The Air Force gave the F-16 permission to fly faster than the speed of sound to catch up with it. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)

by: Aaron Tolentino

Posted: Aug 25, 2023 / 11:49 AM PDT

Updated: Aug 25, 2023 / 11:50 AM PDT

(KRON) — A civilian aircraft violated a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) Friday morning near Lake Tahoe, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said in a press release. The flight restriction was implemented since President Joe Biden is currently vacationing in the area.

In response to the violation, two NORAD F-16 fighter aircraft and a U.S. Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin were deployed. Flares were fired in the air to gain the attention of the civilian pilot.

The flares burned out quickly, and there was no danger to people on the ground after the flares were fired, officials said.

The civilian aircraft violated the TFR at around 7:50 a.m., and NORAD aircraft escorted it out of the area. Officials did not release any further information about the civilian aircraft or its pilot.

Biden has spent the past week in Tahoe. He is expected to leave sometime this weekend.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.