NORAD launched two F-16 fighter jets from Ellington Field in Houston in response to a small plane that crashed into an Austin, Texas office building. A spokesman with NORAD/ Northern Command calls the air patrol a “precaution” and tells Fox, “it’s pretty evident this is not a terrorist event, but the F-16’s will remain in the air until we are confident there is no further threat.”
The jets were launched at 1142 ET, about 1 hour after the crash occurred.
Local authorities on the ground are calling this an “isolated incident” saying “there is no further need for alarm.”
The suspected pilot, Andrew Joseph Stack III, reportedly set fire to his home while his wife and daughter were still inside before flying his plane into a building that is known to house IRS offices.