CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A private helicopter was intercepted by a military jet in a "no-fly zone" around NASA's Kennedy Space Center Tuesday as a fully fueled shuttle Endeavour was being readied for a planned launch to the International Space Station.
Air Force officials determined that there was "no malicious intent" on the part of the helicopter pilot, a 67-year-old Washington state resident. But the intercept pointed up the unprecedented security measures put in place to protect the shuttle and its crew.
"It clearly demonstrated that our (security) procedures work," said Maj. Mike Rein, a spokesman for the Air Force's 45th Space Wing, the military unit responsible for shuttle launch-day security.
"It shows that we're going to take all reasonable measures to protect the shuttle and its crew."
Endeavour and a U.S.-Russian are scheduled to blast off at 5:45 p.m. EST (2345 GMT) on a mission to ferry a new crew to the international station and then return to Earth with the outpost's current tenants.
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The launch will be NASA's first shuttle flight since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on America, and extraordinary security measures have been put in place as a result.Among them: A "no-fly zone" meant to keep aircraft from flying within about 35 miles (56 kilometers) of the shuttle's beachside launch pad.
Standing some 15 stories tall, the shuttle's external tank was filled with more than 500,000 gallons of highly explosive rocket fuel about eight hours before the planned launch, making Endeavour an inherently vulnerable target for any would-be terrorist in even a light aircraft.
Hijacked commercial airliners served as fuel-laden weapons in the Sept. 11 attacks and Air Force officials prior to launch noted that many of the terrorists involved had lived, worked and attended flight school in Florida.
Consequently, military jets and helicopter gunships have been patrolling the "no-fly zone" as countdown clocks tick toward a sunset liftoff.
Advance surveillance radar, meanwhile, spotted the private helicopter -- a Bell 214 -- flying in restricted airspace south of NASA's 140,000-acre (56,000-hectare) spaceport between 11 a.m. and noon EST (1600 and 1700 GMT).
An Air Force F-16 immediately intercepted the helicopter, which then landed in a field near Christmas, Fla., which is located about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of KSC.
Rein said the pilot apparently had just purchased the helicopter in South Florida and was making a cross-country trip back to the state of Washington. He was unaware of the no-fly zone, Rein added.
A local sheriff's department helicopter escorted the private helicopter to a regional airfield in nearby Merritt Island, Florida. The pilot, whose identity was not immediately available, will remain grounded there until restricted air space is reopened after the shuttle launch.
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