White House/Capitol Building Evacuated
 

Just heard on the radio that the White House and the Capitol building have been evacuated and that there are fighter jets hovering over the White House. I'm listening to a christian program that is housed in the building right next to the Capitol, so they are reporting it.

Has anyone else heard this?


ETA: Just found an article from the AP...


May 11, 12:12 PM EDT

Capitol Building, White House Evacuated

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Capitol and White House were evacuated Wednesday and alarms rang through the buildings. War planes were seen flying overhead and security cars rushed away from the building.

Reporters in the White House were told to move to a more secure location.

President Bush was not at the White House at the time.

A guard in the West Wing of the White House shouted at reporters, "Go down into the basement."

"Leave, run," security officers shouted to staff and reporters at the Capitol.

Read The Rest Here

It's on CBS news now. :o

Bush isn't there right? So.....? :confused:

There was some kind of airplane that wandered into the restricted zone.

They have sounded the all clear and letting people back in now.

Greater DC is a no-fly zone. Any plane, no matter WHO is in or out of town, should know better than to fly over DC - with the exception of planes arriving/departing National Airport.


ETA: The pilot was diverted by military aircraft to Frederick, MD, and has been "detained". Talk about a world of trouble!

It happened while I just got to work. We got an all points alert saying "WHITE HOUSE/CAPITOL EVACUATED...STAY TUNED FOR FURTHER INFO." We didn't know WTH was going on, we just knew a plane was involved and here I was thinking, "damn...I hope nothing's going on. I'm on federal land!"

A few months after the 9/11 tragedy, I was taking a class across the street from the White House. The building was close enough that any plane hitting the White House would have partially hit it. On the second day, the fire alarm went off. Do I have to tell you that everyone hit the deck immediately?!

Last I heard on the news, the pilot and student were detained for a while and no criminal charges were pressed. But the FAA ain't done with 'em yet... can you say Alpha Mike Foxtrot to a pilot license?

And if you're flying into DCA (Washington Reagan National) you are prohibited from getting out of your seat until 30 minutes after takeoff or 30 minutes prior to landing. So if you must use the airplane's shitter, you're shit out of luck. Anyone violating that order will automatically force the plane to divert to Washington Dulles or Baltimore.

A few hours ago, I was tempted to say -- keep them closed and maybe the rest of us can get something done.

But Homeland Security is a serious issue, so I didn't.

Until now.

Seriously, by now you would think people would know better than to fly around DC.

And how lost could you possibly be with all of the national monuments you're flying over.

I guess it could have been cloudy.