White House, Capitol Building evacuated as small plane enters no-fly zone
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[[Image:WDC Protected Airspace.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Washington D.C.'s Protected Airspace]]
{{date|May 11, 2005}}

Two men were taken into custody for violating the {{w|no-fly zone}} surrounding the [[U.S.]] national capital in [[Washington D.C.]]

The [[United States Capitol|Capitol Building]], the {{w|Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court}}, the {{w|United States Department of the Treasury|Department of the Treasury}} and the {{w|United States White House|White House}} were evacuated around noon Wednesday. People in the vicinity were told to head to a rail station approximately a half mile south of the White House.  Reporters in the White House itself were told to move into the basement.

{{w|George W. Bush|President Bush}} was not in the White House at the time.  CNN and Bloomberg have reported that the President was on a bicycle ride; CTV has reported that he was at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in {{w|Beltsville, Maryland|Beltsville}}, {{w|Maryland}}.

Wire sources report the cause of the evacuation as being a small plane that wandered into the no-fly zone.  The craft was reportedly a {{w|Cessna 150}}, which flew into restricted space, left the area, and then returned.  It was then escorted out of the zone by two {{w|F-16 Fighting Falcon|F-16s}} that fired warning flares at it.  

''MSNBC'' reported that a 'lure motorcade' drove away from the White House.

Authorities gave the "all-clear" signal a few minutes after the evacuation.  Other government agencies outside of the immediate area were largely unaffected.

At the time of the police-ordered evacuation, {{w|US Senate|Senator}} {{w|Dick Shelby|Richard Shelby}}, {{w|Republican Party (United States)|R}}-{{w|Alabama|AL}}, was on the Senate floor. "They said get out of here, so I ran. There's no joking about this kind of stuff," Shelby said.

The two men who were flying the aircraft were on their way to an air show when they slipped into Washington D.C.'s Restricted Airspace (image at right).  Their plane was escorted to a Maryland airport where they were taken into custody and interviewed by authorities.  Once it became clear the incident had been a mistake, the two men were released.

In Washington, D.C., a 25 {{w|kilometre|km}} radius from the {{w|Washington Monument}} is restricted air space.

{{original reporting}}

==Sources==
*{{source|url=http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/11/evacuation/index.html
|title=Two held after White House, Capitol evacuation
|author=
|pub=CNN
|date=May 11, 2005}}
*{{source|url=http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=748297
|title=Two in Custody After Capitol Plane Scare
|author=Eileen Putman AP Writer
|pub=ABC News (US)
|date=May 11, 2005}}
* {{source|url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050511/ap_on_go_co/capital;_ylt=Aofno2nTvSo9jN0G5FiGXuSs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ|title=Capitol Building, White House Evacuated|date=May 11, 2005|author=Associated Press|pub=Yahoo! News}}
* {{source|pub=MSNBC|url=http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7817210/|author=|title=White House, Capitol evacuated|date=May 11, 2005}}
* {{source|title=Capitol, White House briefly evacuated |url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050511.whouse0511/BNStory/International/ |author=Associated Press |pub=The Globe and Mail |date=May 11, 2005}}
* {{source|title='All clear' sounded at White House
|url=http://www.canada.com/national/story.html?id=032f4ae2-b8da-409a-9f38-36870f5703c9
|author=
|pub=National Post
|date=May 11, 2005}}
* {{source|title=White House, Capitol Evacuated Briefly
|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4998518,00.html
|author=
|pub=Guardian
|date=May 11, 2005}}
* {{source|title=All-clear given after White House evacuation
|url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1115828179522_7/?hub=World
|author=
|pub=CTV
|date=May 11 2005}}
* {{source|title=Timeline of evacuation
|url=http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=748233&page=1
|author=
|pub=ABC News (US)
|date=May 11, 2005}}

==Related news==
*{{Wikinews|title=Air alarm at White House, Bush moved to safety
|date=April 27, 2005}}

==External image==
[http://img.news.yahoo.com/util/anysize/380,http%3A%2F%2Fus.news2.yimg.com%2Fus.yimg.com%2Fp%2Fap%2F20050511%2Fcapt.ny13405111842.capitol_ny134.jpg?v=1 F-16 escorting Cessna]

 

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[[Category:North America]]
[[Category:United States]]
[[Category:Crime and law]]
[[Category:published]]
[[Category:Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:US Capitol]]
[[Category:US White House]]
[[Category:Airshows]]

[[es:Una avioneta provoca el desalojo de la Casa Blanca]]
[[it:Allarme aereo a Washington: evacuata la Casa Bianca]]
[[pl:Niespodziewana ewakuacja Białego Domu i Kapitolu w Stanach Zjednoczonych]]
[[pt:Avião causa pânico na Casa Branca]]
Washington D.C.'s Protected Airspace


Two men were taken into custody for violating the  surrounding the U.S. national capital in Washington D.C.

The Capitol Building, the Supreme Court, the Department of the Treasury and the White House were evacuated around noon Wednesday. People in the vicinity were told to head to a rail station approximately a half mile south of the White House.  Reporters in the White House itself were told to move into the basement.

President Bush was not in the White House at the time.  CNN and Bloomberg have reported that the President was on a bicycle ride; CTV has reported that he was at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Beltsville, .

Wire sources report the cause of the evacuation as being a small plane that wandered into the no-fly zone.  The craft was reportedly a F-16 Fighting Falcon|F-16s that fired warning flares at it.  

MSNBC reported that a 'lure motorcade' drove away from the White House.

Authorities gave the "all-clear" signal a few minutes after the evacuation.  Other government agencies outside of the immediate area were largely unaffected.

At the time of the police-ordered evacuation, Senator Richard Shelby, R-AL, was on the Senate floor. "They said get out of here, so I ran. There's no joking about this kind of stuff," Shelby said.

The two men who were flying the aircraft were on their way to an air show when they slipped into Washington D.C.'s Restricted Airspace (image at right).  Their plane was escorted to a Maryland airport where they were taken into custody and interviewed by authorities.  Once it became clear the incident had been a mistake, the two men were released.

In Washington, D.C., a 25 km radius from the  is restricted air space.

es:Una avioneta provoca el desalojo de la Casa Blanca
it:Allarme aereo a Washington: evacuata la Casa Bianca
pl:Niespodziewana ewakuacja Białego Domu i Kapitolu w Stanach Zjednoczonych
Avião causa pânico na Casa Branca
North America United States Crime and law published Washington, D.C. US Capitol US White House Airshows