Plane Near White House Triggers Security Scare

Air Force fighter jets scrambled to intercept a private plane that flew too close to the White House, setting off a security scare that led Vice President Dick Cheney and President Bush’s chief of staff, Andrew H. Card Jr., to be moved to a secure location. The plane was later determined not to be a threat. The president and the first lady were away at the time.

The pilot landed in Siler City, N.C., and allowed authorities to search the plane, a Secret Service spokesman said. The pilot told officers that he had been unable to contact the fighter jets.