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this post was submitted on 19 Jul 2026
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NYPD has no authority to detain anyone outside the borders of New York, so who is going to operate the flight?
A private plane leaving New York going east must obtain oceanic clearance from FAA air traffic controllers to transit the oceanic airspace. (I'm just assuming that there's some way to get out of the mess of NYC controlled airspace from an outlying field on VFR without contacting ATC. But in the oceanic region class A tends to drop really low to try to get under.).
In any case, such a flight would be confronted immediately by the US Atlantic Air Defense Identification Zone. All flights are required to establish two-way communication and be assigned a discrete transponder code. Non-compliers are intercepted by the US Air Force for visual identification, and they can be coerced into landing back in US territory. So it would be pretty easy for the feds to get them there.
In addition civilian flights entering and leaving US territory are required to file eAPIS notices with CBP containing passenger manifests with passport numbers, etc., at least 60 minutes before departure. So if this plane hits the ADIZ with no eAPIS or with fishy eAPIS, it's another way for the feds to find out which one to intercept.
But in any case, a more likely response is just a TFR that closes New York or the entire North Atlantic airspace to civilians. And nobody gets to go to Europe that night. Nothing on that scale has happened since 9/11, but we're talking about kidnapping a head of state, not Edward Snowden.
What about driving him to Canada?
CBP is now taking pictures of all vehicles leaving at land crossings. But overall it's much easier to hide a body in the trunk of a car than in a private aircraft. Particularly if there's some cooperation with Canadian border services.
I don't, for a second think Mamdani will actually order him arrested, the posturing is likely all just for show, but if he did, and they managed to bundle Netanyahu on to a plane, what exactly could anyone do about it once they took off? Shoot it down, killing Netanyahu in the process? The government would be on the horns of a very classic dilemma; let the plane go, losing Netanyahu, or shoot it down, killing him? As I said in my first post, the diplomatic and political fallout to a plan like this would be extreme whatever happened.
My suspicion is they'd shoot, and try to pin the whole thing on radical leftwing trans communist muslim terrorists. It go down well with trump's base, and do nothing to mollify any other states.
I doubt they would shoot the plane down but otherwise agree.
I mean, if they are willing to extralegally kidnapp a head of state, why comply with orders to return to US? The only reason to stop the plane is to rescue Netanyahu, and shooting at the plane would defeat that purpose. But realistically, it would already all go wrong at the arrest part. Heads of state don't travel without bodyguards that don't give a shit if you have a badge of local police. Would likely be a shootout, unless NYPD had owevhelming numbers and managed to surround them.
Also, spoiler alert, it is not legal in any way and Mamdani is just talking shit. Which is not a criticism really, I like good shit talking like this.