Ocean City Plane Intercepted By Fighter Jet

A young pilot out of Ocean City New Jersey got the surprise of a lifetime after he looked out his window to see an F-16 fighter Jet inching closer to him. Without him realizing it, he made a big mistake.

As anyone who has flown a plane before would know, during your pre-flight checklist there are a few things a pilot does before even heading to a plane.

While many would say that checking the weather would be the answer, that is only one step. Another big step would be to check the location of TFRs or NOTAMs.

NOMADs refer to a system used by pilots to subscribe to and receive specific NOTAMs (Notice to Airmen) related to their flight operations.

While A Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) is a short-term restriction of flight operations in a specific area, TFRs are issued by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) in the United States and can be for various reasons, such as national security, natural disasters, VIP movements, or large public events.

These TFRs are super important in our area because the National Guard and other military forces use our airspace for training.

In the past three years Cape May and parts of the Wildwoods have been seeing a ton of TFRs due to the President of the United States, Joe Biden, visiting his shore house in Rehoboth Beach.

TFRs around the President of the United States typically extend 30 nautical miles (about 34.5 miles or 55.5 kilometers) from the center of the restricted area.

This zone is divided into two sections:

The No-Fly Zone: Within the innermost 10 nautical miles (approximately 11.5 miles or 18.5 kilometers), flight operations are generally prohibited unless specific authorization is obtained from the appropriate authorities.

The Outer Zone: From 10 to 30 nautical miles from the center, flights are still restricted, but pilots may operate with certain limitations and must follow specific instructions provided by the FAA.

While you might think that the Wildwoods are way farther than 30 miles, you would be wrong. That 30-mile mark rips right into Sea Isle City.

This means that unless a plane has permission to be in the Outer Zone, you are not allowed to be flying in that airspace at any height.

Also See: NJ Terminates Orsted Offshore Wind Projects

Funny enough, drone pilots aren’t able to take off in these zones as well.

All that being said, the pilot who took off at the Ocean City Municipal Airport didn’t read the local TFRs and started to make his way down the coast toward Cape May.

As soon as he passed through Wildwood and the outer zone, the fighter jets, which are typically just flying in circles or are on standby, made their way to his position. The tower in charge of the TFR then tried to radio out to the pilot to find out what was going on.

The entire conversation was recorded since most frequencies are being recorded and streamed online. You can watch and hear that video at the bottom of this article

During the conversation you can hear the tower communicating with the F-16 fighter jet pilot who goes by ‘Devil 1,’ asking if they can see the Piper PA-28-160 Cherokee with the tail number N28PA.

After several minutes, N28PA responded to the calls by saying “N28PA here, Ive got a jet flying close to me, is something wrong?” After being told that he was flying in a TFR, the pilot responded with “I did not see that TFR on my radar, I’m extremely sorry. We’re gonna head directly back to Ocean City Immediately.”

Since this took place only at about 2,000 feet, there were many visitors who noticed the F-16 trailing the Cherokee which only made people on the ground confused.

We decided to share with you in the video below, the audio and video from this incident. Before you watch please subscribe as we try to hit 100,000 subscribers.