The North American Aerospace Defense Command announced a series of aerial homeland security exercises that were to take place Tuesday afternoon between Julian in San Diego County and Irvine. The announcement was made just hours before the training. During the exercises, scheduled for between 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., the public may see low-flying NORAD-controlled fighter jets near civilian aircraft, the agency said.
The fighter pilots will be practicing intercept and identification procedures with the civilians, who are helping with the training. “In order to test responses, systems and equipment, NORAD continuously conducts exercises with a variety of scenarios, including airspace-restriction violations, hijackings and responding to unknown aircraft,” the agency said. FULL REPORT
