HILL AIR FORCE BASE -- A pair of Hill Air Force Base F-16s acted as temporary wingmen to President Barack Obama and Air Force One last week.
On July 9, while Obama was in Nevada to campaign for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and to give a speech on the economy at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, two F-16 fighters, under the direction of North American Aerospace Defense Command, responded to two single-engine aircraft violating a temporary flight-restricted area in the vicinity of Las Vegas.
The fighters, based out of the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill, received a scramble call from NORAD and later intercepted the two aircraft without incident.
The first aircraft, a Cessna 210, was intercepted at approximately 8:05 a.m. The other plane, described as a single-engine general aviation aircraft, was intercepted at approximately 8:34 a.m.
According to NORAD, the Cessna landed at the North Las Vegas Airport, where it was met by local authorities, and the second aircraft landed in Mesquite, where it too was met by authorities.
"Bases have aircraft that are on standby and ready to go at a moment's notice," said Stacey Knott, a spokeswoman at NORAD's headquarters in Colorado Springs.
"So when we get a notice about an unknown aircraft (in a restricted area), we will respond."
Hill spokesman Rich Essary said that given the sensitive nature of the mission, the base could not comment on the intercept other than to confirm that two base F-16s were indeed involved.
The intercepts took place just hours before Obama was due to deliver his speech.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the FAA's Flight Standards District Office is still investigating the incidents and the two pilots will likely have their license suspended.
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