Cargo jet receives F16 escort to San Bernardino airport

Cargo jet receives F16 escort to San Bernardino airport A Nigerian cargo jet flying from Minnesota to San Bernardino for repairs this week received an important lesson in equipment maintenance and earned an escort by military fighter jets.
   The three-member crew of the Boeing 727, flying with the colors of Associated Air Cargo, did not maintain adequate communication with air traffic controllers during the flight and were greeted by two F-16C fighter jets from March Air Reserve Base near Riverside as they approached Southern California airspace Monday evening. The military escort, requested by the Federal Aviation Administration, guided the plane to a landing at San Bernardino International Airport without incident.
   The three-engine cargo jet, which had flown from Canada to Duluth, Minn., was headed to So Cal Precision Aircraft at SBIA for major maintenance.
   “The bottom line is the (FAA) has a zero-tolerance policy,” U.S. Air Force Maj. Stacia Reddish told the San Bernardino Sun. Reddish is spokeswoman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD.
   “Any violation and they contact NORAD and tell us, 'Launch (fighters) at them,' ' she said.
   While the military jets escorted the plane to a landing, San Bernardino Police swarmed the airport.
   Local police and Transportation Safety Administration officers detained and questioned the crew once the plane landed. Officers and K-9 units searched the plane, but determined that there was no security threat.
   The plane's crew reported that they could hear transmissions, but not transmit. An additional hand-held radio on the plane also failed, according to the crew.   
   NORAD has directed more than 2,400 air intercepts since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks as part of a nationwide air-protection program named Operation Noble Eagle.