{"id":50923,"date":"2018-02-02T20:33:30","date_gmt":"2018-02-02T20:33:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/02\/02\/air-force-will-test-feds-ability-to-detect-small-aircraft-over-dc\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:52:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:52:01","slug":"air-force-will-test-feds-ability-to-detect-small-aircraft-over-dc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/2018\/02\/02\/air-force-will-test-feds-ability-to-detect-small-aircraft-over-dc\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Force will test fed\u2019s ability to detect small aircraft over D.C."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Residents of the nation\u2019s capital may see Air Force-piloted gyrocopters and other small aircraft flying overhead, as federal officials begin testing the government\u2019s ability<\/a> to identify and intercept unknown aircraft<\/a>, according to the Washinton Examiner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Air Force<\/a> will fly a gyrocopter above the capital area at between 500 and 2,500 feet off the ground, and will fly Cessna and Sky Arrow aircraft between 500 and 8,000 feet above the ground, according to a Jan. 30 press release cited by the Examiner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This comes nearly three years after Florida mailman Douglas Hughes successfully flew past the White House undetected in a 350-pound rotorcraft before landing at the U.S. Capitol, seeking to raise attention for campaign finance reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Douglas Hughes, the Florida man who piloted his one-person aircraft through some of the nation’s most restricted airspace and landed on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol, speaks to reporters outside federal court in Washington Nov. 20. (Manuel Balce Ceneta\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In April 2016, Hughes was sentenced to four months in prison by a federal judge. His flight is a small indication of the threat that small aircraft and unmanned aerial systems<\/a> present In Washington, D.C.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUsing Cessna, Sky Arrow and Gyrocopter aircraft, a variety of flight patterns will be flown five to nine times per week,\u201d the U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command\u2019s public affairs office said in the press release, the Examiner reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hughes believes his flight, which went undetected from radar and the high tech JLENS aerial detection system, pushed NORAD and the Federal Aviation Administration to tighten up their security system, according to the Examiner.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf a person was to try an unannounced flight today, I wouldn\u2019t bet on their odds of making it,\u201d Hughes told the Examiner<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flights will occur during both daytime and nighttime hours and will run through the end of March.<\/p>\n\n\n\t