Crisis Plans Reviewed After Scare

(CBS/AP)  A security scare in the nation's capital served as a mostly successful terror alert test after authorities diverted a small plane that flew within three miles of the White House and led to the frantic evacuation of thousands of people.

However, CBS News Senior White House Correspondent Bill Plante reports that critics either called the response an overreaction or asked why officials waited so long to take action.

Alert levels at the White House and Capitol were raised to their highest state, red, on Wednesday when a Cessna 152 crossed into restricted air space and failed to respond to a Homeland Security helicopter scrambled to stop it. Military jets fired four warning flares at the single-engine aircraft, which was carrying a pilot and a student pilot flying from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, before it turned away from the national landmarks.

The plane appeared to be "on a straight-in shot toward the center of the Washington area," Capitol Police Chief Terrance W. Gainer said.

CBS News Correspondent Bob Orr reports that air traffic officials say, despite the elevated warning level on the Hill, they never viewed the Cessna as a real threat. For one thing, it was detected nearly a half-hour before the evacuation was ordered. Some officials told him that a plane as small as a Cessna could not cause significant damage or injuries.

The scare, which lasted about 45 minutes, sparked a frenzy of activity that tested the capital's post-Sept. 11 response system. Homeland Security officials said smooth coordination among a handful of federal agencies to share information and quickly scramble warplanes showed the defense system worked as designed.

"Security measures were effectively executed," Homeland Security spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said.

There was one notable exception: Mayor Anthony Williams said city officials weren't told about the threat until the all-clear was sounded, more than 10 minutes after the White House and Capitol were evacuated. A city government building that houses the mayoral and District of Columbia Council offices, located two blocks from the White House, was not evacuated.

While praising the fast federal response, experts said the alarm highlighted security measures that still need to be put in place.

David Heyman, homeland security director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said more needs to be done to prevent unauthorized flights and protect restricted airspace from violations like Wednesday's.

"The scare today reminds us both of the challenges we still face in securing our nation's skies as well as the significant steps we've taken to protect against future attacks," Heyman said.

"We have more work to do."

The incident began at 11:28 a.m. when Federal Aviation Administration radar picked up the small, two-seater aircraft. Gainer said the first alert went out when the plane was 21 miles — about 17 minutes flying time — from the city.

One Black Hawk helicopter and one Cessna Citation jet, assigned to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, were dispatched at 11:47 a.m. from Reagan National Airport. Authorities said the Citation established communication with the Cessna's pilot around 12:06 p.m. as two F-16 jet fighters moved in. The jets, scrambled from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, fired four warning flares before the plane turned away.

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