White House, Capitol briefly evacuated
'All clear' later given; Cessna pilot held after entering airspace
BREAKING NEWS
NBC, MSNBC and news services
Updated: 1:56 p.m. ET May 11, 2005
WASHINGTON - The White House and the U.S. Capitol building were emptied in a frantic evacuation Wednesday after a small plane entered the restricted airspace around the capital, triggering fears of a terrorist attack.
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>"You've got one minute," one officer at the Capitol yelled to a group including NBC correspondent Chip Reid. A few minutes later, after hundreds of people who had been in the Capitol fled to a park two blocks away, officials gave the "all clear" signal.
But during the brief evacuation, military jets scrambled over the area as people ran down streets. A motorcade stormed out of a side street next to the White House, NBC correspondent Norah O'Donnell reported from a cell phone as she evacuated.
President Bush was not in the White House at the time. Vice President Dick Cheney was, and his Secret Service team quickly moved him to a secure location.
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The incident sparked a flurry of emergency activity throughout the capital, which was targeted on Sept. 11, 2001, and has been under a heightened state of alert since then.
Officers also rushed through the Supreme Court building and told staff to get into the basement. At the Treasury Department, people were moved across the street.
At the Capitol, several lawmakers said they fled after being told that a plane was just several minutes away.
Jets drop flares
Initial reports said a Cessna aircraft had entered the restricted airspace, then turned away but returned back. Fighter jets then approached the aircraft and it veered away again.
Two F-16s dropped four warning flares in the path of the single-engine Cessna in an effort to get the plane to divert, U.S. military officials told NBC News.
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<HR color=#c0c0c0 noShade SIZE=1></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The Cessna later landed at a small airport in Frederick, Md., where officials said the pilot reported his radio was not working. He was said to have gotten to within three miles of the White House.
The pilot was not identified, but the plane is registered to a flying club in Pennsylvania.
Police said the club had not authorized the pilot to use the Cessna. Both the pilot and a passenger were in police custody.
False alarms have happened before. Two weeks ago an evacuation was ordered when a radar hit suggested a plane had entered the area. The hit turned out to be clouds.
In that evacuation, Bush and Cheney were escorted to a bunker under the White House.
Scene in Congress
At the Capitol Wednesday, armed security officers raced through the building shouting for people to leave. “This is not a drill,” guards yelled as they moved people away from the building.
Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., was on the Senate floor when police told him they needed to evacuate. “They said get out of here, so I ran. There’s no joking about this kind of stuff,” Shelby said.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert was on the House floor talking to members when the evacuation siren went off. He left quickly with his security detail.
Two large black armored SUVs often used by House and Senate leaders sped away from the Capitol.
“People were surprised. I was surprised,” said Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, who was on the House floor. “There was so much commotion in the gallery. People were yelling in the gallery. We thought something had happened in the gallery, and then the alarm came to evacuate.”
Sarah Little, an aide to Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan. said the order to evacuate came over the special pager devices that every congressional office has. “They said ... there is an imminent aircraft threat,” she said.
Washington’s Reagan National Airport has been closed to general aviation since the Sept. 11 attacks. In the 3½ years since then, hundreds of small planes have flown within the restricted airspace around the capital — a 15¾-mile radius around the Washington Monument.
However, it’s rare for fighter jets to be scrambled.
'All clear' later given; Cessna pilot held after entering airspace
BREAKING NEWS
NBC, MSNBC and news services
Updated: 1:56 p.m. ET May 11, 2005
WASHINGTON - The White House and the U.S. Capitol building were emptied in a frantic evacuation Wednesday after a small plane entered the restricted airspace around the capital, triggering fears of a terrorist attack.
<TABLE style="PADDING-LEFT: 15px" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=textSmallGrey vAlign=top align=middle>advertisement
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>"You've got one minute," one officer at the Capitol yelled to a group including NBC correspondent Chip Reid. A few minutes later, after hundreds of people who had been in the Capitol fled to a park two blocks away, officials gave the "all clear" signal.
But during the brief evacuation, military jets scrambled over the area as people ran down streets. A motorcade stormed out of a side street next to the White House, NBC correspondent Norah O'Donnell reported from a cell phone as she evacuated.
President Bush was not in the White House at the time. Vice President Dick Cheney was, and his Secret Service team quickly moved him to a secure location.
<TABLE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 15px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="1%" align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
The incident sparked a flurry of emergency activity throughout the capital, which was targeted on Sept. 11, 2001, and has been under a heightened state of alert since then.
Officers also rushed through the Supreme Court building and told staff to get into the basement. At the Treasury Department, people were moved across the street.
At the Capitol, several lawmakers said they fled after being told that a plane was just several minutes away.
Jets drop flares
Initial reports said a Cessna aircraft had entered the restricted airspace, then turned away but returned back. Fighter jets then approached the aircraft and it veered away again.
Two F-16s dropped four warning flares in the path of the single-engine Cessna in an effort to get the plane to divert, U.S. military officials told NBC News.
<TABLE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 15px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 5px" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="1%" align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
J.scott Applewhite / AP
An F-16 fighter jet, fully armed with air-to-air missiles under its wings, maneuvers above the capital Wednesday during the evacuation scare.<HR color=#c0c0c0 noShade SIZE=1></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The Cessna later landed at a small airport in Frederick, Md., where officials said the pilot reported his radio was not working. He was said to have gotten to within three miles of the White House.
The pilot was not identified, but the plane is registered to a flying club in Pennsylvania.
Police said the club had not authorized the pilot to use the Cessna. Both the pilot and a passenger were in police custody.
False alarms have happened before. Two weeks ago an evacuation was ordered when a radar hit suggested a plane had entered the area. The hit turned out to be clouds.
In that evacuation, Bush and Cheney were escorted to a bunker under the White House.
Scene in Congress
At the Capitol Wednesday, armed security officers raced through the building shouting for people to leave. “This is not a drill,” guards yelled as they moved people away from the building.
Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., was on the Senate floor when police told him they needed to evacuate. “They said get out of here, so I ran. There’s no joking about this kind of stuff,” Shelby said.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert was on the House floor talking to members when the evacuation siren went off. He left quickly with his security detail.
Two large black armored SUVs often used by House and Senate leaders sped away from the Capitol.
“People were surprised. I was surprised,” said Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, who was on the House floor. “There was so much commotion in the gallery. People were yelling in the gallery. We thought something had happened in the gallery, and then the alarm came to evacuate.”
Sarah Little, an aide to Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan. said the order to evacuate came over the special pager devices that every congressional office has. “They said ... there is an imminent aircraft threat,” she said.
Washington’s Reagan National Airport has been closed to general aviation since the Sept. 11 attacks. In the 3½ years since then, hundreds of small planes have flown within the restricted airspace around the capital — a 15¾-mile radius around the Washington Monument.
However, it’s rare for fighter jets to be scrambled.
