Brief Evacuation On Capitol Hill

Plane Enters Restricted Space, Sparking Evacuation Order

(AP)  Capitol Police Chief Terrance W. Gainer said the Capitol was ordered evacuated when the plane was about 5 minutes away. It was traveling southwest, then turned south toward the Capitol, but headed away a minute and a half later, Gainer said.

The plane originated in Delaware and was headed to Ohio, said Gary Bracken, a spokesman for the Bureau of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Bracken said the pilot wrote a flight plan but did not file it with federal officials.

The House and Senate were both voting when the alarm sounded. In a virtual replay of a scare earlier this summer, members of Congress, staff, visitors and others were told to leave the building quickly.

Agents ran out of the gate from the White House compound onto Pennsylvania Avenue and began clearing pedestrians from the street. At first, officers did not seem hurried, and pedestrians were walking casually. "It's in your best interest to hurry along," an agent said.

The scare lasted about 10 minutes at the White House before officers gave the all-clear and Pennsylvania Avenue was reopened.

The offending plane was a King Air 350, said Michael D. Kucharek, a spokesman for North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado.

After it was detected, two Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons scrambled from Andrews and it, Kucharek said.

The fighters "got the pilot's attention pretty quick," Kucharek said. Because of that, the fighters did not need to drop flares, and the laser warning system was not employed.