President Obama was in Seattle on Primary Election Day (Tuesday, August 17, 2010), stumping for Senator Patty Murray. Security was extremely tight, highways and roads were closed for the motorcade, air space was restricted, and all flights were grounded till Air Force One left the area.
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Unfortunately, some yahoo pilot failed to check in with the FAA bulletins and didn't realize there was a no-fly zone in effect for the Seattle Metro area, so he flew his float plane back to Seattle, from Lake Chelan in Eastern Washington, completely unaware that he was about to cause a headline-making event.
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About 1:50 PM, the entire region was rocked by two huge sonic booms, as fighter jets scrambled out of Portland, OR to intercept the float plane. They were on afterburners the entire way, and made the trip from Portland to Seattle in 19 minutes. People from Chehalis to Seattle, including myself, were startled out of their wits to hear these booms out of nowhere, as the fighter jets made their way north, above the I-5 corridor.
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The float plane pilot was met at the Kenmore Air facility on Lake Washington by the Washington State Patrol and Secret Service. Needless to say, his shit is weak. The pilot's license will probably be suspended, since it was a mistake, but could also be revoked because he should have tuned into the FAA's channel for their announcements.
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What killed me is that, less than 4 hours later, these t-shirts were available to commemorate the event:
America. What a country.
