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73 °F Forecast | Road Cams Saturday, October 16, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend October 15, 2004 Airspace breach forces landing By JONEL ALECCIA and JOHN DARLING Mail Tribune A small German-style plane that violated restricted air space during President George W. Bush’s Southern Oregon visit was forced from the sky Thursday evening by red flares from two F-16 fighter jets. The aircraft, described as a fixed-wing, single-engine plane decorated with Maltese crosses, a red nose and camouflage paint, touched down at the Ashland airport at about 5:30 p.m. The pilot, Edward S. Zager, 47, of Hayward, Calif., was handcuffed and detained, along with a passenger, by Secret Service and local law enforcement officials. Zager is the registered owner of the 1957 plane, according to federal Civil Aviation Registry records. Zager could face suspension of his pilot’s license for entering restricted airspace during a presidential visit, said Oregon State Police Trooper Dewayne Price, who searched the plane. "There’s nothing to indicate that he’s up to anything," Price said. "He really should have done his homework." Advertisement Zager said he gained clearance from California officials before taking off en route from Hayward, Calif., to Aurora, near Portland. When he got near Ashland, the small plane was urged to the ground, a witness said. "We heard this fighter jet; it made a lot of noise," said Ashland resident Marc Valens, 55, a private pilot since 1967. "It shot some flares that made these big puffs of smoke. Then after a while, I could see a small, single-engine propeller plane doing a sort of tight circle, coming down, down, down." Nancy Corey, a spokeswoman in the Federal Aviation Administration’s Seattle office, confirmed the grounding. Temporary FAA rules restricted most aircraft operations within a 30- nautical-mile radius of Medford from 3 p.m. Thursday to 9 a.m. Friday, according to a government Web site. Strict prohibitions on flight also were enforced in a zone within 10 nautical miles of the Medford airport. All aircraft entering or leaving the restricted zone were required to emit a special assigned radio code before taking off and during the flight. Flight training, aerobatic flight, gliders, parachutes, ultralights, balloons, crop dusting and banner-towing operations were prohibited. Zager’s predicament stirred sympathy among fellow pilots. The sight of an F-16 shooting red flares would spook anyone. "It would be very scary," Valens said. Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities