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F-16s dispatched after solo pilot strays     Send a link to a friend

[August 02, 2007]  FREDERICK, Md.  (AP) -- Two fighter jets were launched to intercept a pilot flying a Cessna 172 cross country that strayed into restricted air space over Washington on Wednesday, officials said.

The F-16s forced the pilot to land at Frederick Municipal Airport, where he was interviewed by Maryland State Police and Secret Service agents, officials said.

The jets were dispatched after North American Aerospace Defense Command officials noticed the small plane enter the north end of the Air Defense Identification Zone around 12:30 p.m., NORAD spokesman Michael Kucharek said.

Frederick Municipal Airport manager Charles Abell said the pilot, who was not identified, rented a plane in Leesburg, Va., and is a flight school student. The solo cross-country flight would have counted toward the pilot's license requirements.

The hazy day probably got the pilot lost and disoriented before his flight path took him into the restricted area, he said.

"It was an honest mistake," Abell said.

[Associated Press]

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