White House on lockdown
The White House was locked down by the Secret Service for about 20 minutes after a plane entered Washington's airspace on November 26.
The US Secret Service said the blockade was short-lived due to a "risk of violating restricted airspace in the capital area" at around 9am local time (9pm Hanoi time).
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A US Secret Service agent watches the sky during the White House lockdown on November 26. Photo:Reuters |
Roads around the White House were blocked by Secret Service and no one was allowed near the area. Officials also evacuated workers who were building a new fence for the White House. The Secret Service did not say what happened to the plane that violated airspace.
Senior security officials were called in to coordinate monitoring of the situation, but the aircraft was "not considered hostile," North American Aerospace Defense Command said on Twitter, adding that its fighters had been deployed to the scene.
It is unclear whether President Donald Trump was in the White House during the lockdown. Capitol Police later confirmed that the situation returned to normal after about 20 minutes.
Security blockades around the White House are not uncommon, usually occurring whenever suspicious signs appear in the area. The US government has restricted airspace around the White House and the US Capitol building in Washington as a precaution after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but some small private planes still occasionally stray into the area.
