Tonight: About Those Aircraft You May See or Hear

If you happen to hear or see planes directly overhead tonight, it will be a training flight exercise being conducted by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). According to Alert DC (see complete message below), the exercise will take place in the DC region between midnight and 2 a.m.

I still remember seeing the Air Force fighters on patrol over Washington in the weeks after the September 11 attacks eight years ago. And since Borderstan is close to The White House, we sometimes awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of large military helicopters in the neighborhood flying close to the ground. It was always a thrill to wake up at about 3 a.m. with a helicopter hovering over our house.

NORAD Flight Exercise Planned For Washington, D.C.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command and its geographical component, the Continental U.S. NORAD Region, will conduct training flight exercises on Thursday, Aug. 27 in the National Capital Region (NCR), Washington, D.C.  Exercise Falcon Virgo 09-11will occur between midnight and 2 a.m. EDT.

The exercise comprises of a series of training flights held in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Capital Region Command Center, the Joint Air Defense Operations Center, the Continental U.S. NORAD Region (CONR), Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Coast Guard and CONR’s Eastern Air Defense Sector.

Exercise Falcon Virgo is designed to hone NORAD’s intercept and identification operations, as well as procedural tests of the NCR Visual Warning System.  The exercise includes two Civil Air Patrol Cessna aircraft and one Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter.

Residents may see these aircraft approaching and flying in the vicinity of the Washington, D.C., area as part of this exercise during the late night and early morning hours and continuing through the scheduled exercise hours.

In the event of inclement weather, the exercise will push to the next day.

For more information on the Exercise Falcon Virgo, please contact CONR Public Affairs at (850) 283-8080, or the NORAD Public Affairs Office at (719) 554-6889.