PHILADELPHIA, July 25: A man piloting a small plane that veered too close to US President George Bush’s motorcade on Thursday was detained by federal agents after F-16 fighters and a police helicopter forced him to land, officials said.

The pilot, who was patrolling oil pipelines in a single-engine Cessna at altitudes too low to be sighted by radar, entered a 48-km no-fly zone and flew along Bush’s motorcade route as the president was traveling from a speaking event in Philadelphia, officials said.

The pilot was identified only as an employee of Underwood Aerial Patrol of Ohio.

“He was unaware that there was a temporary flight restriction in effect. There was no threat. There was no malice,” said James Borasi, special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s Philadelphia field office.

The incident triggered a scramble of F-16 fighters, which forced the pilot down at Camden County Airport in Berlin, New Jersey, with help from a police helicopter, officials said.—Reuters