Plane causes White House alert

The White House is protected by an air exclusion zone

A small private plane which flew into restricted air space around the White House caused a major security alert.

Two F-15 fighter planes were scrambled from Andrews Air Force Base near Washington to intercept the plane after it appeared late on Monday morning.

It came within 16 kilometres (10 miles) of the presidential residence before it was escorted away, officials said.

According to a defence official, the incident appears to have been caused by simple pilot error.

Guards on lawn

President George W Bush was not at home when the plane appeared at about 1115 (1615 GMT) but Vice-President Dick Cheney and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card were moved temporarily to a secure location. They have since returned to work.

For the duration of the scare, armed guards took up position on the White House lawn.

Tom Mazur, a spokesman for the Secret Service, said that the Federal Aviation Administration was tracking the plane and the pilot would be interviewed upon landing.

Washington is surrounded by an Air Defence Identification Zone with a radius of about 37 km (23 miles).

On 11 September 2001, a suicide squad flew an airliner into the Pentagon, across the Potomac River from the White House.