SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The California National Guard’s 144th Fighter Wing is always guarding the skies. But this Sunday their alert mission is on the world stage as they work to keep the skies safe over Super Bowl LX.
It’s a less visible part of a sweeping security effort to keep the Super Bowl safe. The Federal Aviation Administration has designated the 30 miles above and around Levi’s Stadium as restricted airspace for the Super Bowl, meaning aircraft are banned from flying there. NORAD, known officially as the North American Aerospace Defense Command, is tasked with monitoring the skies for aircraft or drones that may enter.
The 144th Fighter Wing is on high alert to respond if NORAD sees a potential threat and orders fighter jets to scramble into the sky within minutes to check it out. The pilots who fly the F-15s have practiced drills over and over in advance of the big game.
“Just like the teams in the Super Bowl prepare before the game, we prepare and practice all the time,” Lt. Col Daniel “Jinxy” Behrens, a pilot assigned to the 144th Fighter Wing, said in an interview.
If an aircraft or drone enters the airspace, a warning is sounded and within minutes the F-15s are up in the air. They fly fast and close to each other.
“I think you’d be amazed at how quickly someone can go from in the alert barn, maybe even sleeping, to airborne and on the radio running an intercept,” Col. Joel “JP” Pauls, commander of the 144th Fighter Wing, said.
He said drones have increasingly become a focus in protecting restricted airspace, like that around the Super Bowl.
“I think there’s an increase in drone activity in general, just all over the place,” Pauls said. “And so it’s something we definitely get concerned about.”
NBC’s Courtney Kube joined pilots with the 144th Fighter Wing in the skies this week as they worked with the Civil Air Patrol to simulate intercepting an unknown aircraft flying in restricted airspace. During the mission, they searched for two Cessnas. In this case, the Cessnas were deemed “friendly,” so the pilots worked to get those pilots’ attention.
“I think I see him there,” Behrens said, noting the Cessna was just 4 miles away.
“Oftentimes it was somebody who just isn’t aware,” he said of pilots of aircraft that fly into restricted airspace.
Once the fighter jet approaches, it flies in a circle around the aircraft it’s trying to escort out of the restricted airspace. The F-15 flashes its lights, rocks its wings and maneuvers close by while trying to contact the Cessna pilots over an emergency radio frequency.
The pilot warns that a fighter jet is approaching.
“This is the United States Air Force, armed fighter on SIM guard. You have been intercepted,” he says. And the Cessnas are successfully escorted out of the restricted airspace.
While the F-15s are armed and prepared to take out a threat, the pilots who fly them said their goal is always to de-escalate the situation.
“We are an armed aircraft, an air defense fighter, and they do arm us with live missiles,” Behrens said. “So that’s part of the calm communication that we communicate to them.”
The F-15 also has proved to be reliable. Called the Eagle, the jet is “America’s sweetheart,” said Master Sgt. Sean Copus, an avionics technician with the 144th Fighter Wing.
It has never been shot down in conflicts around the world.
“It’s undefeated in combat, 104 wins, zero losses,” Pauls said. “It’s a unique combination of speed, range, weapons, load out and payload, along with the advanced avionics.”
