Real World - FAA - if you see an F-15/F-16 sidle up beside you in the air

[ford_friendly 2]

Imagine you're flying a C172 in the real world and suddenly notice an F-15 flying off your wingtip and rocking its wings. Um, why is he there and what do you do?

 

I got a bit of a kick out of this article and the Official FAA pdf relating to it.

 

http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a19202/heres-how-f-15s-practice-intercept-procedures-for-the-super-bowl/

 

https://www.faa.gov/news/safety_briefing/2015/media/Intercept-Procedures.pdf

[Joe Flyer2 3]

Wow! It reminds me of the "Rocket Launch Air Cover" mission in FSX! 

[scottb613 1,188]

Yep - security theater at it's finest...

 

Regards,

Scott

[jime59 58]

It's a good thing to have an extra pair of pants around should something of this nature arise.

[bonchie 2,305]

They threaten this stuff really heavily around DC.

 

But it really takes a lot for them to scramble jets. More then they'd like you to know. There's like 3-4 different things they'll do first before it gets to that point. If it does happen though, kiss your certificate goodbye for a while and get ready for a tough 709 ride.

 

I think it's mostly an empty threat. If you are in the SFRA, you've got more then enough time to do bad things if that's your intention. Andrews is right there, but I rarely see the F-16's out and ready to go (my airfield borders Andrews and I've often gotten a class B clearance to over fly it).

 

Remember the ultralight that landed on the US Capitol? There was no response until he hit the ground.