U.S. Capitol evacuated after small plane enters airspace

The U.S. Capitol was briefly evacuated Saturday afternoon when a small aircraft entered restricted airspace, authorities said.

The evacuation was ordered after authorities were unable to immediately contact the pilot, U.S. Capitol Police said.

NORAD says two F-16 fighter jets intercepted the plane around 1:30 p.m. after it entered restricted airspace and was out of communication with air traffic control.

The jets escorted the plane to the airport in Mount Airy, North Carolina, where the pilot was met by members of law enforcement.

A U.S. official told CNN that the pilot’s destination was Mount Airy, where he was going to meet his daughter. The source says the pilot said his outdated maps caused him some confusion. There was one other person in plane.

No security issues, just a pilot deviation, Ross Feinstein, the Press Secretary for the Transportation Security Administration, tweeted.

Staff and visitors were allowed back inside the Capitol after about a half hour.

Also evacuated during the scare was the Library of Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court buildings, the Metropolitan Police said.

Federal Aviation Administration officials told CNN there will be an investigation into why the pilot entered the restricted airspace without authorization.

The incident prompted authorities to institute an AIRCON RED – air condition red – alert, police told CNN. The alert is triggered when an aircraft enters restricted airspace in Washington without authorization.

Visitors to Washington got unexpected excitement.

“We were touring around in one of the rooms in the Capitol,” said Victoria Chandler. “And the tour guide all of a sudden got very frantic and started telling us to evacuate the building and go down the steps.

“I grabbed two of the youngest girls and my mother got me and we started running down the stairs. We got outside and a man told us to run as far as we could because it was not a drill.”

Richard Chapin was also in the Capitol.

“We just got in there, like I said, we were excited to see it,” he said. “Now we’ve got a story to tell. We were evacuated out of the Capitol building.”

It’s not the first time such an alert has been issued.

The Capitol was briefly cleared and the White House was temporarily locked down when a single-engine plane wandered into restricted airspace in April 2009.

It was also evacuated in January 2011 when a commercial airliner accidentally entered restricted airspace.

Authorities: Georgia courthouse attacker prepared to inflict mayhem

Wild car chase ends with suspect shot to death near U.S. Capitol

President’s restricted airspace violated three times in less than 24 hours

CNN’s Rene Marsh and Janet DiGiacomo contributed to this report.