NORAD to conduct (9/11 Style) exercise flights over Cape and Islands Wednesday

Jack Blood
Deadline Live
June 3, 2011

Between the hours of 10 a.m. and 12 a.m. Wednesday, June 8th, F-15 fighter jets from the 104th Fighter Wing out of Westfield will participate in an Alert Force exercise over Eastern Massachusetts, according to a MA Air National Guard release. Provincetown, Hyannis, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard are included in the exercise area.

According to the MA Air National Guard, along with the F-15s, low-speed civilian propeller aircraft will be flown by the Civil Air Patrol during exercise.  The exercise, facilitated in partnership with the US Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), is intended to train alert pilots on intercept procedures. The purpose of the training is to prepare the MA Air National Guard to defend the Northeast airspace against any airborne threat.
NORAD continuously conducts such exercises to test responses, systems and equipment, according to the MA Air National Guard. The exercises are carefully planned and controlled and involve scenarios including airspace restriction violations, hijackings and response to unknown aircraft.  Similar exercises have been conducted by NORAD throughout the United States and Canada since the inception of Operation Noble Eagle after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

An increase in aircraft activity may be experienced over Provincetown, Hyannis and the Islands during the exercise.

Source: MA Air National Guard.

Related: