Venice Man Just Sold Plane That Violated D.C. Airspace

A Venice man said he closed a deal Wednesday morning to sell a single-engine airplane that later in the day violated restricted airspace near the Capitol in Washington.

The plane, a Cessna 177, got within six miles of the U.S. Capitol before being diverted, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

David Alt Sr. of Venice, the plane's registered owner, said the airplane had been kept in Maryland, where his son, David Alt Jr., lives. He said his son helped with the sale, which was finalized about 9:30 a.m.

The plane entered restricted airspace about 12:12 p.m.

The plane's new owner is David Couch, a Texas lawyer, David Alt Sr. said.

"He's a lawyer and a family man," he said. "I've talked to him at least 20 times, and he's a good man. He just made a simple mistake."

Alt said Couch contacted him after he advertised the plane for sale in a Tennessee trade magazine.

The airspace violation prompted security officials to temporarily raise the threat level from yellow to orange and order personnel in the Capitol to prepare to leave, but the incident was resolved before an evacuation was ordered.

The plane had taken off from a Carroll County airport in north-central Maryland. It entered restricted airspace 30 miles north of Washington at 1,800 feet with no radio, FAA spokesman Hank Price said.

The Cessna reached a point six miles northwest of the Capitol building before being diverted and escorted by interceptor aircraft to a Leesburg, Va., airport, where it landed at 12:44 p.m., Price said.

Capitol Police Sgt. Kimberly Schneider said the pilot was interviewed at the Leesburg facility.

Michael Kucharek, a spokesman with North American Aerospace Defense Command, said two F-16s were scrambled to intercept the plane as it headed south from Maryland.

A Coast Guard helicopter also was involved in the interception and escort of the Cessna, said Lt. Gene Maestas, spokesman for the Coast Guard's Mid-Atlantic region.

NORAD also used a laser system that visually warns pilots they are in a restricted area, Kucharek said.

Thought the Capitol was not evacuated, tourists were turned away for a time.

The threat level soon returned to yellow, or elevated, and later to green -- or low threat -- according to police and other officials.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said the White House was notified.

"There was an aircraft that entered into the airspace that there was some concern about, but the aircraft turned around," she said. "We are at normal security levels here at the White House."