I live in an apartment and I thought it was a bomb, someone crashed into the building downstairs or it might of been an earthquake. That thing was loud. I never heard a "sonic boom" before. Bad timing for someone to fly over our air space when President Obama is in town.
Read more
Two loud sonic booms heard around the Seattle area shortly before 2 p.m. Tuesday were caused by two F-15 jets, according to Allen Kenitzer, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
The F-15s were being "scrambled" because someone flew a plane inside the temporary flight-restrictions area set up around Boeing Field, he said.
President Obama landed at Boeing Field as part of his tour of Seattle on Tuesday, which includes a stop at an eatery, the Westin Hotel and fundraiser venues.
The airspace can be restricted for up to a 30-mile radius around an area, and up to 18,000 feet high, according to the notice.
NORAD announced that the wayward aircraft left the restricted airspace before the fighter jets arrived, but the jets "went supersonic near the Seattle Area."
CBS reporter Mark Knoller reports on Twitter that the errant small plane was a seaplane, whose pilot was being questioned after going within eight miles of Air Force One.
Kenmore Air, a major regional seaplane business, was aware of the restrictions, and in fact announced to customers that seaplane flights would be canceled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday. The company says the plane wasn't theirs.
So many calls related to the sonic booms were made to the Pierce County 911 call center that it shut the operation down for a time, according to detective Ed Troyer, spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff's Office.
The two jets took off from the 142nd Oregon Air National Guard Wing in Portland, said spokeswoman Major Melinda Lapore.
The jets went to intercept a small aircraft in the no-fly zone near Seattle, Lapore said.
In flight, an aircraft produces waves of air similar to those created in water by the bow and stern of a ship. When the aircraft exceeds the speed of sound, (approximately 767 mph at sea level), the pressure waves are forced together or compressed into a shock waves. The explosion-like sound generated by these shock waves are called sonic booms.
The F-15s were being "scrambled" because someone flew a plane inside the temporary flight-restrictions area set up around Boeing Field, he said.
President Obama landed at Boeing Field as part of his tour of Seattle on Tuesday, which includes a stop at an eatery, the Westin Hotel and fundraiser venues.
The airspace can be restricted for up to a 30-mile radius around an area, and up to 18,000 feet high, according to the notice.
NORAD announced that the wayward aircraft left the restricted airspace before the fighter jets arrived, but the jets "went supersonic near the Seattle Area."
CBS reporter Mark Knoller reports on Twitter that the errant small plane was a seaplane, whose pilot was being questioned after going within eight miles of Air Force One.
Kenmore Air, a major regional seaplane business, was aware of the restrictions, and in fact announced to customers that seaplane flights would be canceled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday. The company says the plane wasn't theirs.
So many calls related to the sonic booms were made to the Pierce County 911 call center that it shut the operation down for a time, according to detective Ed Troyer, spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff's Office.
The two jets took off from the 142nd Oregon Air National Guard Wing in Portland, said spokeswoman Major Melinda Lapore.
The jets went to intercept a small aircraft in the no-fly zone near Seattle, Lapore said.
In flight, an aircraft produces waves of air similar to those created in water by the bow and stern of a ship. When the aircraft exceeds the speed of sound, (approximately 767 mph at sea level), the pressure waves are forced together or compressed into a shock waves. The explosion-like sound generated by these shock waves are called sonic booms.
I was thinking the same thing. I was in high school when Streetfighter 2 came out. Me and my friends use to walk down the subway tunnels & high school hallways yelling "sonic boom", "dragoooooooooooooooooon upper cut" Tigerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr"
Comment