Security Incident Involving Bill Clinton

Background

At the time, Bill Clinton was listed as sitting president. The record is categorized as alleged or disputed with a low confidence level.

Event details

The reported method was aircraft crash. Plane crashed on White House grounds; president was not present.

Aftermath

Corder, who had a history of alcohol and drug problems and had recently separated from his wife, stole a small Cessna from a Maryland airport and flew it low under radar toward Washington, crashing onto the White House South Lawn in the early morning hours of September 12. He was killed in the crash; the aircraft came to rest against the base of a magnolia tree. Clinton and his family were not present—they were staying at Blair House while the White House underwent renovations. An investigation concluded Corder was acting out of personal despair and a desire to make a dramatic statement, with no confirmed political co-conspirators. The incident prompted security reviews that ultimately contributed to airspace restrictions over Washington and additional physical barriers around the White House grounds.

Historical significance

The Corder crash directly prompted the airspace restrictions and radar surveillance infrastructure that today define Washington's Air Defense Identification Zone. Before the incident, the White House's vulnerability to small aircraft was almost entirely unaddressed; after it, the military and Secret Service undertook a systematic review that established the layered air-defense protocols that remained in place—and were tested on September 11, 2001. Together with the Duran shooting six weeks later, the Corder incident was part of a 1994 security crisis that ultimately led to the permanent closure of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House and a comprehensive rethinking of the White House perimeter—changes that endure to the present day.

Sources

• Frank Corder — Wikipedia contributors
• List of United States presidential assassination attempts and plots — Wikipedia contributors