Air Force 1 carrying US President Donald Trump arrives at Calgary Airport on Sunday evening under heavy military guard, including five Chinook helicopters (seen in foreground)/via Trish Anne Nyenhuis-Vansickle on Facebook
A sign of the security which has been evident in the skies above Kamloops and now heavily surrounds Kananaskis and the G7 Summit just across the Alberta/BC border.
NORAD has revealed it was compelled to scramble a pair of fighter jets on Sunday morning after a pilot violated the restricted airspace where world leaders, including Prime Minister Mark Carney and US President Donald Trump — among others — will be huddled the next couple of days.
“North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), in support of the RCMP-led Integrated Safety and Security Group, had to deploy air assets after a private, fixed-wing, civilian aircraft violated the air restrictions centered above Kananaskis air space,” said NORAD in a statement on Sunday.
Map outlining the airspace restrictions over Kananaskis and Calgary for this year’s G7 Summit, which runs Monday and Tuesday in the Rocky Mountain resort village near the BC border/via NORAD
NORAD says Canadian fighter aircraft were put into action shortly after 11am Sunday.
“At approximately 11:05 a.m. today, a non-compliant Canadian aircraft entered the CYR 292 restricted air space, which met the criteria for a tactical response,” said the joint-Canadian/US air defense organization. “NORAD’s Canadian region (CANR) deployed CF-18 Hornet fighter jets to intercept.”
NORAD is not revealing is exactly how it managed to get the private plane out of the restricted airspace, which it says was not responding to initial demands the pilot leave the airspace.
“After multiple steps were taken to gain the pilot’s attention, CANR employed final warning measures to contact the pilot and have them safely land under their own power, ” said NORAD.
NORAD says it won’t be revealing anything more about the situation, citing an ongoing investigation.
It does warn that it’s taking the situation “very seriously,” noting that it’s a pilot’s responsibility to know where they’re flying, and whether there are restrictions in the airspace they’re travelling in.
Airspace restrictions covering a 30-nautical mile area around Kananaskis, on top of a 20-nautical mile no-fly zone around Calgary were established on Saturday.
Those restrictions do not affect commercial flights in and out of Calgary but will require them to fly within a specified corridor while preparing to land at the Calgary Airport.
Headed by the RCMP in Alberta, the Integrated Safety and Security Group has been active the past three weeks in preparation for the world leaders arriving in Kananaskis this week for their discussions on various bilateral and international concerns.
The ISSG includes the RCMP, NORAD, the Canadian military and other non-specified stakeholders from other countries providing security for the vent.
Since the group was launched, there has been a noticeable increase in military aircraft making their way over Kamloops the past couple of weeks.
Video of military aircraft flying over Kamloops May 23, 2025/via Caleb Johnson on Facebook
Similar to the last time Canada hosted the event in Kananaskis in 2002 — known then as the G8 and included Russia — security is equally as tight.
That Summit fell the year after the 9/11 attacks in the United States, prompting extra-ordinary security measures.
This included keeping the general public — and protesters — well away from the world leaders, something that remains in-place this year as well.
Leaders of the then-G8 countries pose for a picture in Kananaskis in 2002 the last time the Rocky Mountain resort community hosted the global event. (L-R) Italian Prime Minster Silvio Berlusconi, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder, US President George W. Bush, French President Jacques Chirac, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, Russian President Vladimir Putin, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi/via Gov’t of Canada
Those hoping to express their concerns publicly will still be able to do so, but only in designated protest zones in Calgary and Banff, and only if the volume on the TV is turned up.
While the world leaders were completely isolated from the few thousand who turned out in 2002 to protest in Calgary, this year G7 organizers have set up a direct video feed from the protest areas to Kananaskis to allow the world leaders an opportunity to see what’s taking place – should they choose.
This year’s G7 will wrap up on Tuesday.
The airspace restrictions over Kananaskis and Calgary will be lifted at midnight on Tuesday but will be closely enforced until then.
While it was Canadian CF-18 fighter jets which were deployed Sunday, NORAD notes the air-defense agency is a joint collaboration, meaning it’s not just Canadian pilots who may be engaging aircraft which break the no-fly zones.
“Due to its bi-national nature, NORAD is drawing on aircraft, assets and personnel from both the Canadian and U.S. militaries to accomplish the mission of aerospace warning and control in support of the RCMP-led Integrated Safety and Security Group for the 2025 G7 Summit security,” NORAD pointed out in its release detailing Sunday’s incident.
