By Susannah Wood
Around 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 7th, a small plane entered restricted airspace over Washington, D.C. leading to an AIRCON RED alert and the evacuation of the U.S. Capitol building, the Supreme Court building, the Library of Congress and other office buildings in the vicinity, according to the Associated Press and CNN. The White House was not affected by the alert.

The pilot did not at first respond to air traffic controllers. As a result, two F-16 fighter jets were dispatched to escort the plane out of the area.

Around 2 p.m. the pilot did begin responding at which point the alert was cancelled. The plane was accompanied by the F-16s to Mt. Airy, North Carolina, the pilot’s stated destination. Secret Service agents interviewed the pilot there.

According to CNN, outdated maps were the source of the pilot’s error.

While neither story revealed the name of the pilot, Norfolk Now has learned that he is a local resident, Craig Hewitt of Falls Village, who was on his way to visit his daughter in Mt. Airy. Hewitt could not be reached for comment.

The AP story concluded by saying that “airspace violations by small planes are common in Washington.”