Palm Beach International Airport was thrown into chaos on Sunday as a security scare ahead of President Donald Trump’s scheduled departure caused F-16 fighter jets to deploy flares in the skies above Mar-a-Lago.
Just hours before Air Force One was slated to leave for Washington, D.C., after Trump’s weekend getaway, F-16 fighter jets from the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) intercepted a civilian aircraft that had violated a Temporary Flight Restriction around 1:15 p.m. and escorted it out of the restricted airspace above PBI, according to a NORAD statement shared by the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service.
“During the intercept, NORAD aircraft dispensed flares, which may have been visible to the public,” the statement read. “The flares were used to draw attention from or communicate with the pilot. Flares are employed with the highest regard for safety, burn out quickly and completely, and pose no danger to people on the ground.”
NORAD confirmed the incident in another statement shared on X.
“Today, NORAD F-16 aircraft responded to a civilian aircraft that entered restricted airspace under a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) over Palm Beach, Florida,” the defense force wrote. “The situation was resolved safely.”
Federal Aviation Administration authorities issued a ground stop at the Florida airport after they lost communication with the plane, the New York Post reported.
A White House official told the outlet that once contact was reestablished with the aircraft, the ground stop was lifted.
Initial reports indicated that a drone scare caused the ground stop, as a video circulating on social media showed a Delta pilot on a commercial flight informing passengers of the reason for the stop.
“They’re not sure what it was, but apparently there was a drone that came in too close to the airport,” the pilot can be heard saying in the video shared by freelance video journalist Oliya Scootercaster on X.
“There was no drone incursion or concern regarding Air Force One, which is not slated to take off until this evening,” a White House official told the New York Post.
Trump, 79, eventually boarded Air Force One around 6:50 p.m. on Sunday on his way back to Washington, D.C.
The Daily Beast reached out to the White House and Palm Beach International Airport for comment.
