Flying restrictions activated in Alaska after unidentified object shot down by US military

After the US F-22 fighter jet on Friday shot down an unidentified 'high-altitude object' with a missile in the skies of Deadhorse over Alaska, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) imposed restrictions on the planes flying around Prudhoe Bay and Kuparuk. A US Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft, a Combat King II, travelling at 170 mph was also spotted encircling and patrolling the area at an altitude of 3,225 feet. The purpose or origin of the object that was detected 40,000 feet offshore near Deadhorse remains unclear. 

"We do not know who owns it, whether it's state-owned or corporate-owned or privately owned," US National Security advisor John Kirby said at a briefing.

US President Joe Biden, in a televised remark to an American broadcaster, said that the US military has shot down the “high-altitude object” hovering over Alaska on Friday, adding that it was “a success". The decision noted the US commander-in-chief was made in consultation with American national security officials. Biden clarified that his administration had sought the US military's approval to take the action to shoot the hovering object down.

TFR map over Alaska declared by FAA in a notice to NOTAM. Credit: FAA

TFR activated due to security concerns

Temporary Flight Restrictions [TFR] were activated due to security concerns, and the air traffic is cut off from the area presumably to protect aircraft avionics and electrical systems from being impacted. Global aviation experts, however, have speculated that US Air Force may have suspected a submarine in the region. FAA maintains the safety of the National Airspace System. "As with cars on the road, there are rules that cover aircraft in the sky to ensure safety. In special circumstances, the FAA may temporarily restrict access to certain designated areas of our airspace, much, in the same way, a city or state may block off access to a street when necessary," Federal Aviation Administration describes. The Alaskan TFR was communicated to pilots through Notices to Air Missions (NOTAMs). Here's the notice issued by FAA to NOTAM:

The Alaskan-based press is reporting that Alaska Airlines Flight 5131 flying for North Slope was stopped at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. Another commercial jet flying from Anchorage to Red Dog Mine was diverted to Nome before it was able to swing back to Red Dog near Kotzebue. On normal days, the planes fly a straight line from Anchorage to Red Dog. 

US National Security Council Co-ordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby, at a presser, had detailed that the unidentified object "was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet and posed a reasonable threat to the safety of the civilian flight." Ordinarily, the Missile Defence Agency of the US Department of Defense makes decisions to initiate restrictions to the airspaces if there are concerns about the safety of the aviation traffic that could significantly affect aircraft flying in the vicinity of the impacted area. Kirby stressed that the unmanned downed craft was "the size of a small car" much smaller than the spy balloon. A TFR was activated along the South Carolina coast as the China spy balloon drifted with the wind in the said direction before it was shot down. 

“Out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of the Pentagon, President Biden ordered the military to down the object, and they did, and it came inside our territorial waters," Kirby noted at the White House conference. 

The incident comes in the backdrop of the US military recently shooting an unmanned Chinese airship that they described as the “surveillance balloon" off of Myrtle Beach, SC over the state of Montana. Pentagon described the spy balloon's presence in US airspace as an "incursion" that the US (Department of Defence) failed to tackle with urgency in bringing it down. North American Air Defense Command issued a statement on Twitter, saying that it “had detected and was tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now”.