Fighters scrambled to intercept plane near Mar-a-Lago

Residents in multiple cities said they heard a loud explosion-like sound.

ByABC News
February 17, 2017, 8:36 PM

— -- Fighter jets were scrambled in Florida Friday night to intercept an unresponsive plane that violated restricted airspace over President Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, creating a sonic boom that alarmed some residents, officials said.

Some residents mistook the loud sound from the F-15 jets for an explosion, but the Broward Sheriff’s office confirmed that the noise was from a military exercise.

“The intercept required the Air Force F-15s from Homestead Air National Guard Base to travel at supersonic speeds, a sound noticed by area residents, to get to the general aviation aircraft where they were able to establish communications,” NORAD said in a statement of the incident, around 7 p.m.

"The intent of military intercepts is to have the identified aircraft re-establish communications with local FAA air traffic controllers and instruct the pilot to follow air traffic controllers' instructions to land safely for follow-on action."

The Broward Sheriff’s office said 911 centers were flooded with phone calls about the incident.

The boom was felt and heard from Weston to Boca Raton, which is located about an hour north of Miami, the sheriff's office said.

Twitter users in multiple cities reported that they heard a loud explosion-like sound. Some users also said felt an impact that shook their windows.