An alert in the nation’s capital today had people running from the White House and the Capitol building, after a small plane entered restricted airspace over Washington. Officials say the plane — described as a Cessna — was then approached by fighter aircraft, and it veered away. Iowa Congressman Tom Latham was on the House floor at the time of the evacuation and explains what took place. Latham says he was talking with a fellow Iowa congressman, Jim Nussle, when there was a cry to evacuate and he jokes it’s quite remarkable in itself to see a group of congressmembers move that rapidly. “It was pretty scary and the concerns were real, you could tell that in the eyes and the voices of the police and the security folks.” He says the capitol itself and the office buildings surrounding it probably contain 20-thousand people, including visitors, and he praises the job they did moving everyone out. Latham said since 9-11, there have been a couple incidents were alarms were sounded. It’s always a reminder, he says, of what happened on September 11, 2001. You’d look up and see how quickly the jets scrambled into the sky and he says it was even a clear, beautiful day just like 9-11. The wife of one of the pilots told reporters the men were on the way to an air show in North Carolina, and had been talking about how they’d avoid the restricted air-space over the capital.
