Nashville Skies Declared National Defense Airspace, Deadly Force Authorized Against Aircraft Entering No-Fly Zone

By Jack Davis
Published December 26, 2020 at 11:27am

The skies over part of Nashville have been declared “National Defense Airspace” as the federal government reacts to the mysterious Christmas morning bombing in downtown Nashville.

At about 6:30 a.m. on Friday, an RV exploded in Nashville near an AT&T building. Residents of the area were warned to evacuate prior to the explosion, and three people were injured in the blast, which disrupted telecommunications services around the city.

In the immediate aftermath of the bombing, the Federal Aviation Administration stopped all flights out of the city, according to CNN.

While flights out of Nashville have resumed, the FAA is still prohibiting “all aircraft flight operations” over an area encompassing a 1-nautical-mile radius of the blast site and has declared those skies “National Defense Airspace,” WKRN-TV reported.

According to the warning posted on the FAA website, “pilots who do not adhere to the following procedures may be intercepted, detained and interviewed by law enforcement/security personnel.”

The warning said the pilots can face “administrative action,” including civil penalties and the “suspension or revocation of airmen certificates,” or criminal charges for violating the emergency declaration.

“The United States government may use deadly force against the airborne aircraft, if it is determined that the aircraft poses an imminent security threat,” the alert said.

The FAA alert is in effect through Wednesday.

Nashville Mayor John Cooper has issued a State of Civil Emergency for the area around the blast site, according to WZTV.

According to a statement from AT&T, communications outages may continue for some time.

“Power is essential to restoring wireless and wireline communications, and we are working with law enforcement to get access to our equipment and make needed repair,” the AT&T statement said, according to The Nashville Tennessean.

“There are serious logistical challenges to working in a disaster area and we will make measurable progress in the hours and days ahead.

“We’re grateful for the work of law enforcement as they investigate this event while enabling us to restore service for our customers.”

The area of the Nashville explosion “looked like a war zone,” Malory Luciane, who lives near the blast site, told WBIR-TV.

“I saw my wall and my window come into my apartment and I just screamed and called 911,” she said.

When she reached the street, “There were fires on the side of the street, debris all over. It was insane, glass all over the street,” Luciane said.