If you were flying a Cessna over the western suburbs of Chicago on Sunday afternoon without reading your NOTAMs, there is a decent chance an F-16 ended up on your wing. And for at least one pilot, the fighter did not stop at waggling its wings. It fired flares.
President Donald Trump was at Medinah Country Club for the final day of the Presidents Cup on Sunday 27 September. That put a VIP Temporary Flight Restriction over the Chicago area, enforced by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). By the end of the day, NORAD said more than a dozen general aviation aircraft had blundered into it.
Kurzinfo
- Datum: Sunday 27 September 2026
- Warum: VIP Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) for President Trump at the Presidents Cup, Medinah
- Initial NORAD count: 14 violations, 7 intercepts, flares used once (reported by ABC7 Chicago)
- Later count: At least 15 violations, 10 intercepts, flares used twice (reported by NBC 5 Chicago)
- Interceptors: F-16s, according to AvBrief and video of the intercepts
- Ergebnis: NORAD says all situations were safely resolved
- Angekündigt: NORAD published the Chicago TFR enforcement notice on 25 September
The Numbers Kept Climbing
NORAD's first statement, carried by ABC7 Chicago on Sunday evening, confirmed 14 general aviation aircraft had violated the TFR since it was activated. Fighters intercepted seven of them "to gain the attention of the pilots," and dispensed flares during one intercept.
A few hours later, NBC 5 Chicago reported updated figures from NORAD: at least 15 violations, fighter intercepts in 10 cases, and flares used twice. Either way, it was a busy afternoon for the jets overhead, and residents across several suburbs noticed them.
None of this came without warning. On 25 September NORAD announced that it would enforce FAA VIP TFRs over Chicago and Knoxville on 26 and 27 September, and reminded pilots to check NOTAMs before every flight.
Caught on Camera
Video of at least two of the intercepts surfaced within hours. AvBrief reported one showing an F-16 flaring a Cessna, apparently near Argonne National Laboratory southwest of Chicago, and another of an F-16 intercepting a Robinson R22 helicopter whose pilot then followed the fighter out of the area.
Flares are the loudest item in the intercept toolkit. The standard sequence starts with the fighter pulling alongside, rocking its wings and trying the pilot on the emergency frequency, 121.5 MHz. Flares come out when the pilot does not respond. They are meant to be impossible to ignore, and they are not a warning shot. The next step is usually a very uncomfortable phone call after landing.
NORAD's pre-weekend notice spelled that part out: pilots who violate TFR airspace may be met by federal authorities on landing and could face interviews or further enforcement action.
A Familiar Story This Year
Chicago is only the latest in a run of VIP airspace busts. Afterburner covered an F-16 firing flares at a light aircraft near Camp David earlier this month, and a Cessna that found an F-16 on its wing near Bedminster in August. The pattern is always the same: a presidential visit, a published TFR, and general aviation pilots who did not check before takeoff.
For the fighter crews it is real-world alert work, flown under Operation Noble Eagle, the homeland air defence mission launched in the days after the 11 September 2001 attacks. For the pilots on the receiving end, it is a very public lesson in preflight planning. The FAA publishes every active TFR at tfr.faa.gov. Checking it takes about a minute.
Sources: NORAD statements via ABC7 Chicago and NBC 5 Chicago, NORAD / DVIDS TFR notice of 25 September 2026, AvBrief.
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