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UNITED STATES / CANADA (BNO NEWS) — A Cessna 172 airplane was reported stolen from a flight school in Thunder Bay, Canada on Monday afternoon, illegally entered U.S. airspace and is now flying over Illinois, FAA and other officials tell BNO News.

The airplane theft was first reported at 2.55 p.m. local time after it took off from Confederation College at Thunder Bay International Airport in Canada, according to Laura Craig who is a spokeswoman for the airport. “Confederation College officials reported the theft immediately and requested the assistance of Thunder Bay Police,” a statement read. “The aircraft was tracked by radar and crossed into U.S. airspace,” she added. Craig also said that the college is cooperating with Thunder Bay Police to recover the airplane and identify the individual flying the airplane.

In the United States, multiple agencies such as the Federal Aviation Authority, NORAD and the U.S. Air Force are closely following the situation. “They believe its one of the students and we’ve been tracking the aircraft since it entered U.S. airspace and we are still tracking it, he is currently over central Wisconsin,” FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown told BNO News earlier. She later told BNO News that the aircraft had since entered Illinois airspace and is currently flying north of St. Louis, just over the state border. Only one person is believed to be on board. Brown also said that attempts to make contact with the pilot have failed and it is unclear what his intentions are.

Two F-16 fighter jets quickly intercepted the aircraft after it entered U.S. airspace, a spokesman for NORAD confirmed to BNO News. “We believe it is still in the air at this time,” he added.

According to an official at Central Wisconsin Airport in Mosinee, authorities were preparing to force the plane to land at the airport. “They were apparently going to force an airplane to land here but [it was] called off about a quarter to five. Nothing happened here,” he said. Dozens of emergency vehicles were dispatched to the airport but have since left. He did not know the current status of the plane.

Due to the ongoing incident, the Wisconsin Capitol was briefly evacuated. According to the Associated Press, the building was evacuated out of precaution due to the stolen aircraft in the area. People were being ordered to stay at least one block away from the building and police cars with sirens were driving around the Capitol.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security refused to say if the incident could be terrorism related, and referred all inquiries to the FAA. A report from the Associated Press, however, said that there were no indications it might be terrorism related.

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