What Exactly Happened Monday in the Skies Over BWI?

Several witnesses reported seeing an aircraft being escorted by a military jet in the skies near Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) Monday shortly before noon, but officials don’t concur.   

“No report of any such activity,” said Jonathan Dean, BWI spokesperson. 

There’s no denying people saw it though. Witnesses turned to Facebook for answers. 

“Does anyone know why a military jet intercepted a passenger plane from BWI and turned it back to the airport?” questioned one woman on a non-county affiliated Facebook page called Anne Arundel County Breaking News and Events.   

Another witness wrote, “I saw this to (sic) while driving on 100. I couldn't get a good enough look but assumed they were preps for the airshow this week ... but we all know .”

Christina Burck of Glen Burnie also saw the incident.

“We were at Walmart on Quarterfield Road,” she said. “My son loves planes and I knew it was a different sound. As soon as it flew over our heads, I knew it was a jet.”

And then she saw another plane involved.

“It swooped around 97—you could see there was a jet and a smaller plane,” said Burck. “It was definitely small, probably a private plane.” 

The planes were very close according to Burck.

“They were lined up together, flying side by side,” she said.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is the agency tasked with scrambling military aircraft for defensive purposes. 

“No knowledge from our end,” said Lt. Col. Mike Humphreys, NORAD spokesperson. “We would have heard about it.” 

Humphries indicated Air National Guard exercises can appear as if one plane is escorting another. 

“It would be possible a couple of fighters were doing refueling exercises,” said Humphreys. 

It wasn’t the Maryland National Guard though. 

“It wasn’t us, but there’s a chance it could be the DC Air National Guard,” said Lt. Kristofer Baumgartner, spokesperson for the Maryland National Guard.

Apparently it wasn’t them either. 

“I talked to our alert pilots and they confirmed that they were not operating in that area on the date and time in question,” said Cpt. Byron Coward, spokesman for 113th Wing, D.C. Air National Guard.   

There was a NORAD press release about calibration flights on May 25, however that isn’t the date witnesses reported seeing the two planes. 

According to the release, “The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Homeland Security, will conduct calibration flights on May 25 over the Washington, DC, area.”

Humphreys confirmed the calibration flights were only scheduled for the May 25 and said jets were not involved. 

According to the release, the flights are intended to improve defensive response measures. 

“The calibration flights, which will take place from approximately 1-4 p.m., will be performed by a civilian Cessna aircraft and a Beechcraft King Air aircraft flying patterns at approximately 1,000 feet above ground level,” stated the release. “These flights have been carefully planned and will be closely controlled. The flights are intended to assist in calibration of systems and equipment, and will serve to refine and improve our ability to respond to unknown and potentially threatening aircraft.”

Whatever or whoever it was that people saw on Monday, air traffic controllers and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it was business as usual. 

“If it was a training exercise, it would just be normal operations, but we don’t have anything on it,” said Arlene Salac, FAA spokesperson.