White House alert level hits red during plane scare
From Ed Henry
CNN Washington Bureau
 |  The White House threat level reached "red" when a small plane entered restricted air space over Washington. |
| |
|  VIDEO |
 The White House spokesman describes the evacuations.
|
 They said, 'Get out of here.' So I ran. There's no joking about this kind of stuff. 
|
| CNN seeks home video | If you have home video of the airplane security breach Wednesday near Washington, please call CNN at 404-827-1500 and ask for Public Information.
|
|
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The alert level at the White House was raised three levels to "red" at midday Wednesday as an unidentified Cessna aircraft came within three miles of the executive mansion, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said..
The security threat was raised one notch to "yellow" at 11:59 a.m., prompting Secret Service officers to order Bush officials and members of the media to leave the White House grounds.
The White House alert system predates -- and is separate from -- the Department of Homeland Security's color-coded threat system for the nation.
President George Bush was not on hand for the excitement; he was on a bike ride in Maryland, McClellan said.
Vice President Dick Cheney, working in the West Wing of the White House, was hustled to an unspecified secure location away from Pennsylvania Avenue, White House officials said
First lady Laura Bush and former first lady Nancy Reagan, who is staying at the White House during a visit to Washington for a Wednesday night tribute dinner for her late husband, were in the White House at the time of the scare. They too were taken to a secure location, McClellan said.
Some members of the media complained they were not notified of the threat by White House officials or Secret Service officers. But McClellan, who also was moved to a secure location, said the Secret Service did its job. "Security protocols were followed," he said.
According to McClellan, the threat unfolded this way:
At 11:59 a.m., officials raided the threat level at the White House to "yellow" because the Cessna aircraft entered restricted airspace and was just 15 miles north of the White House. About the same time, fighter jets were scrambled to deal with the threat.
By 12:01 p.m., the plane was just 10 miles away and the pilot was not responding to attempts to communicate with him, prompting the White House threat level to be elevated to "orange."
The threat level reached "red" at 12:03 p.m. because the plane was alarmingly close to the White House -- three miles away.
The threat level stayed at "red" for eight minutes, according to McClellan, until 12:11 p.m. when the plane started traveling west. At that point the threat level was lowered two levels to "yellow."
The White House got an "all clear" at 12:14 p.m., according to McClellan.
On another security issue, McClellan said that Secret Service and FBI officials are still "looking into" Tuesday's incident in which a hand grenade was reportedly found about 100 feet from a stage where President Bush was delivering a speech in the nation of Georgia.
Asked whether the president was irritated that Georgian authorities did not alert the Secret Service to the incident until hours after Bush had departed Georgia, McClellan said, "We still have to gather the facts."
