Jet traveling to DC escorted by F-16s to Canada

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Jet traveling to DC escorted by F-16s to Canada Copyright © 2001 AP Online

The Associated Press

BRANDON, Manitoba (October 26, 2001 8:54 p.m. EDT) - U.S. jet fighters escorted a private jet bound for Washington, D.C., to an unscheduled landing Friday in a Canadian town because of incorrect information from an onboard electronic device.

Sgt. Steve Saunders of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said F-16s from Minot Air Base in North Dakota brought the Gulfstream aircraft to its landing in Brandon, Manitoba, late Friday afternoon. The plane was flying to the U.S. capital from Japan.

Police and emergency vehicles surrounded the plane, but Saunders said he believed the incident did not involve a security threat.

U.S. and Canadian jet fighters have increased patrols of North American air space after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in which hijacked commercial airliners crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

John Christinsen, the airport manager in Brandon, said he was told by Winnipeg air traffic control that the flight was "squawking wrong" - meaning an onboard electronic device that helps air controllers track the plane was sending out incorrect information.

Brandon is 90 miles west of Winnipeg in southern Manitoba, about 50 miles north of the U.S.-Canadian border.

Saunders said there were 10 people on the plane. Their nationalities were unknown.

http://www.nandotimes.com/nation/story/158491p-1498583c.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 26, 2001

Answers

It seems that paranoia is running amuck.

-- Billiver (billiver@aol.com), October 26, 2001.

Sounds like its working just fine to me, Bill... ;-)

-- Tee (teefleur@yahoo.com), October 27, 2001.

Sounds great to me also.

-- Rick V (rickv@mc.net), October 27, 2001.

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