From: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/425231_flight17.html
Fighters scrambled after flight restriction violation during Obama visit; booms reported around region
Seattlepi.com reporters Aubrey Cohen, Casey McNerthney and Levi Pulkkinen contributed to this report
A pair of fighter jets scrambled after a small plane entered airspace restricted for President Barack Obama's visit to Seattle were responsible for sonic booms that shook windows Tuesday afternoon as far south as the Oregon border.
Described as a "real world mission," a spokeswoman for 142nd Fighter Wing of the Oregon Air National Guard in Portland said the jets were launched at 1:38 p.m. Tuesday while Obama was in Seattle.
Reached for comment by The Associated Press, one passenger aboard the Cessna 180 floatplane said she and the pilot didn't know anything was wrong until they landed and were told they had to talk to the Secret Service.
"Oh my God, I can't believe - is this the top news thing?" said Laura Joseph, a Normandy Park resident traveling from Lake Chelan.
The fighter jets were called in after the privately operated floatplane violated a temporary airspace restriction and landed at Kenmore. According to an Federal Aviation Administration notice published Saturday, planes were barred from travel below 18,000 feet within 30 miles of Boeing Field during the president's visit.
A pair of F-15 Eagles scrambled out of Portland International Airport flew at supersonic speeds north toward Boeing Field, where Air Force One waited for the president to finish the day's events in Seattle, said Allen Kenitzer, FAA spokesman for the Northwest region.
"A general aviation aircraft violated the temporary flight restriction around Seattle earlier this afternoon," the FAA spokesman said in a prepared statement. "The pilot of the Cessna 180 landed near Lake Washington. The FAA is investigating."
The fighter wing spokeswoman said the F-15s were armed, as is standard for the unit's alert fighters.
Obama arrived in Seattle shortly after 11 a.m., where he spoke during lunchtime round table with three small business owners at Grand Central Bakery in Pioneer Square before attending a fundraiser for Sen. Patty Murray.
Obama was accompanied by Murray and U.S. Commerce Secretary -- and former governor -- Gary Locke. The president departed shortly after 3:30 p.m.
During presidential visits, airspace surrounding the president is often subject to a "temporary flight restriction." The seaplane is believed to have violated that airspace restriction sometime before the 1:38 p.m. scramble.
The plane landed safely at a float plane harbor in Kenmore on the northern shores of Lake Washington, a worker at the harbor told KOMO/4 News.
Joseph, the passenger, told The AP that neither she nor the pilot, Lee Daily, knew about Obama's visit or the air restrictions that accompany such a high-profile trip.
The Secret Service interviewed Daily after he landed at the Kenmore Air marina on the north end of Lake Washington, which had been shut down for the duration of the presidential stop.
Joseph said she saw an F-15 outside the window as the plane approached Seattle.
"I saw a jet, just a white jet going by," she said. "I thought it was kind of odd to see a military jet."
The fighter only passed by the floatplane once and didn't take any other action, Joseph said.
Joseph said she and Daily were allowed to leave after being interviewed by the Secret Service and haven't heard anything yet about possible sanctions.
Todd Banks with Kenmore Air, who owns the harbor where the plane landed, told KOMO the float plane was a private Cessna 180J with a man and woman on board. He says a police car had already arrived at the scene.
Sonic booms were reported as far south as Southwest Washington, with residents in Chehalis and elsewhere reporting shaken windows.
In Pierce County, 911 lines were so jammed with calls about the sonic booms that they partially went down, Pierce County Sheriff's Office spokesman Ed Troyer said.
Calls from landlines were unable to get through for about 15 minutes, but other calls could still access emergency operators, he said.
Several homes and car alarms in Pierce County also were set off by the booms.
"We're asking people to stop calling 911," he said about 2:40 p.m., while dispatchers were still getting notifications -- nearly an hour after the sonic booms. "We're aware of what happened."
The source with ABC News says the Secret Service will interview the pilot out of an abundance of caution, but it seems to be a fairly routine matter and does not look to be anything sinister at this point.
