WASHINGTON (AP) – President Bush was hurried from his residence to a safer location Wednesday evening and people were evacuated from the White House and U.S. Capitol when a private plane ventured into restricted airspace.

The all-clear came within minutes when two fighter jets intercepted the small twin-engine propeller-driven plane eight miles northeast of the Capitol. The alert ended before evacuations were complete at the White House.

The White House briefly went to red alert – its highest level, presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said.

The private turboprop entered restricted airspace northeast of Reagan National Airport, according to federal aviation officials. Jets scrambled from Andrews Air Force Base, Md., intercepted the plane and, as of 6:45 p.m. EDT, escorted the plane to Winchester, Va., where it landed without incident.

An aircraft could be heard overhead at the Capitol, in an area customarily closed to aircraft.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said Capitol Police notified senators’ offices: “This is an emergency message … Capitol Police are tracking unidentified aircraft.”

At the White House, Bush had left the Oval Office for the day and was in the residence when the alert sounded. “The president was temporarily relocated,” McClellan said. Some senior staff also were seen hurrying from the West Wing to the residence area where a bomb shelter is located.

The plane originated in Delaware and was headed to Ohio, said Gary Bracken, a spokesman for the Bureau of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The pilot of plane was Scott Murwin of Athens, Ga., a longtime pilot for Standridge Color Corp., a plastics products company based in Social Circle, Ga., his wife confirmed.

“He was at the wrong altitude,” Debbie Murwin said.

Standridge Color Corp. Bob Standridge said that he had not talked to Murwin but that Murwin had dropped off some Standridge employees to attend a seminar in Wilmington, Del., and was heading for Ohio when the flight was intercepted.

“I assume it’s a simple mistake, the gentleman’s been a pilot for several years,” said Standridge, who said federal authorities planned to talk with company officials Thursday morning.

AP-ES-06-30-05 0000EDT

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