Military Exercises In Philly Sky To Be Performed Ahead Of Pope's Visit
By Pat Loeb
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Military aircrafts will be performing exercises over the Philadelphia area between midnight and 2 a.m. Tuesday, to prepare for the Papal visit.
NORAD -- the North American Aerospace Defense Command -- is conducting what's called "Falcon Virgo," and, though it's performed monthly, it's only being done here because responders want to get familiar with the area before Pope Francis comes to town.
"These are the kinds of things that we have to make sure we're sharp for," says Mary McHale of the Continental U.S. Aerospace Defense Region. "We do 'em for the inauguration; we do 'em for the Super Bowl."
McHale says participants will be practicing intercept and identification:
"We can get training accomplished and we can also make sure we're familiar with the area."
Flight restrictions for the weekend the Pope is here include drones and radio-controlled model planes.
"That's why we're practicing," McHale says. "If in fact somebody does violate that, we're going to have to make sure we take care of the situation."
The Coast Guard will also be enforcing boat restrictions on the Delaware -- near the airport and then up near the prison -- and the Schuylkill within the security zone.
