Small planes still violate D.C. airspace

Airspace in Washington, D.C. is restricted in a 15-mile radius from the Washington Monument, but the FAA says there have been many violations recently.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Small planes are continuing to violate restricted air space in the Washington, D.C., area, the Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday.

According to the FAA, there have been 12 incidents since the July Fourth weekend in which planes have entered the 15-mile restricted zone around the nation's capital, including two on Tuesday.

NORAD -- the North American Defense Command -- scrambled jets in response to one of the planes Tuesday at 9:25 a.m., the FAA said. The aircraft was tracked to Newport News, Virginia, but the FAA had no further information on it.

None of the planes involved in the recent incidents violated prohibited air space around the White House or Camp David.

The FAA sent out a strongly-worded letter to pilots last Thursday reminding them to steer clear of restricted areas. It warned them that "violating a TFR (temporary flight restriction) area can lead to interception by military aircraft and possible FAA legal enforcement action being taken."

FAA spokesman Bill Schumann called it a general reminder and said charts of the restricted areas are on the FAA's Web site.

But a military source said the FAA isn't getting the word out to pilots. "Pilots aren't hearing it and they aren't understanding the significance of it," said the source.

Less than two weeks ago the FAA issued an alert saying the U.S. government continues to receive credible indications that terrorists could be interested in using small planes to launch terrorist attacks.

District of Columbia airspace has been restricted since September 11. The current restriction covers a 15-mile radius around the Washington Monument and up to 18,000 feet.

Reagan National Airport falls within the 15-mile restricted area. Private planes are still banned from flying into or out of the airport.

None of the incursions since the July Fourth holiday have involved prohibited air space around the White House or Camp David. But planes have violated that airspace recently.

On June 29, NORAD jets were scrambled twice to intercept small airplanes that had strayed into prohibited airspace over Camp David. On June 30, jets were readied but not scrambled to respond to another incident.

On June 19, the Secret Service briefly evacuated the White House after a small plane entered restricted air space and came within a few miles of it.

On April 1, a Frontier Airlines jet taking off from Reagan National Airport violated restricted airspace over the White House.