No one looking up into the sky near Phoenix could see it happening when two F-16 fighter jets from the Western Air Defense Sector were scrambled to intercept three aircraft attempting to enter a Temporary Flight Restriction area.
Visible from the ground or not, all three aircraft were successfully intercepted and directed away from the simulated restricted flight zone. They were participating in Felix Hawk, a joint training mission involving the U.S. Air Force and Civil Air Patrol’s Arizona Wing.
It was all in preparation for Super Bowl LVII, nearly four months away.
“We regularly support U.S. Air Force-directed air intercept missions to assist them in training to be ready for the real thing,” said Col. Rob Pinckard, Arizona Wing commander.
“This mission is part of the overall preparations by many organizations to make sure those attending the Super Bowl are protected.”
The first round of Felix Hawk flights took place in August, followed by this exercise Oct. 19. A third round is scheduled for November.
Lt. Col. Mark Schadt, Arizona Wing director of operations, led the management team and aircrews participating in the October mission. His team scheduled six Civil Air Patrol planes three primary, three backup – for the mission. An incident command post was set up at Deer Valley Composite Squadron 302 in Phoenix to manage the mission.
Original source can be found here.
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