Posted on 08/17/2010 2:45:41 PM PDT by NavyCanDo
While I was leaving work I heard what sounded like 2 Sonic Booms at 1:50 PM PST about 10 seconds apart, that shook my parking garage. Four miles away picking my son up at the dentist office they heard the same thing, and it shook their building. Four more miles away my neighbor heard the same thing, and it shook a few things off of shelves.
It did sound like Sonic booms, from what I remember them sounding like in the Navy.
I have a blister on my heel.
It was because of Obama’a visit. A plane had violated his airspace and they scrambled two f-15s which broke the sound barrier.
Woke me up from my nap.
Hope your heel heals.
Seaplane accidentally flew too close to AF1. Landed before intercepted. Pilot being questioned.
Hi Patty....Bye Patty!
One of the checks from porkulus must have bounced.
Thanks, I should of checked KOMO News first. You just don’t here those anymore unless something big is up.
...heard them also. Glad to know that is what it was, feared worse...
Obama is in Seattle today. Probably the noise was somebody getting thrown under the bus. Guess we’ll have to wait to find out who it was. Michelle?
Fighters scrambled after flight restriction violation during Obama visit; booms reported around region
By SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF
People heard two loud booms sounds through the Seattle area and as far south as Lacey about 1:50 p.m.
A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said two fighter jets were scrambled to respond to a violation of flight restrictions put in place during President Obama’s visit.
Described as a “real world mission,” a spokeswoman for 142nd Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard in Portland said the jets were launched at 1:38 p.m. Tuesday while Obama was in Seattle.
A pair of F-15 Eagles scrambled out of Portland International Airport flew at supersonic speeds north toward Boeing Field, where Air Force One waited for the president to finish the day’s events in Seattle, said Allen Kenitzer, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman for the Northwest region.
The sonic booms caused by the fighter jets flying on afterburner were reported in much of Western Washington.
A Kenmore Air representative said the airline’s planes have been on the ground throughout the president’s visit, but the airspace violator was a seaplane.
The booms shook Pierce and Thurston counties and “it was huge,” South Sound Magazine reported on Twitter.
In Pierce County, 911 lines were so jammed with calls about the sonic booms that they partially went down, Pierce County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Ed Troyer said.
Calls from landlines were unable to get through for about 15 minutes, but other calls could still access emergency operators, he said.
Several homes and car alarms in Pierce County also were set off by the booms.
“We’re asking people to stop calling 911,” he said about 2:40 p.m., while dispatchers were still getting notifications — nearly an hour after the sonic booms. “We’re aware of what happened.”
A Seaplane? They are taking off and landing all day long from Lake Union.
Quick! Go take a shower.
And have some cheese.
(You do like cheese, dont you?)
We’ll be here when you get back.
/johnny (former Eagle Keeper)
I heard it and felt it. I figured Air Force One was letting off a little bit of excess “gas”.
Is Boeing testing today?
I’m kind of shocked that the F-15’s had to be scrambled all the way from Portland. Fort Lewis and McCord airforce base are just south of Tacoma. I know McCord is a big transport hub, but they still should have some fighters on site, no?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McChord_Air_Force_Base
I know. But Airforce 1 is probably parked right now at Boeing field and I’m sure they create a larger restricted flight area around it, even when parked. Seaplane pilot must of got to close to the restricted airspace.
Eagle 1: “Eagle 2, hit the afterburners - got a bogie closing on Air Force 1. We’ve been cleared to splash him.”
Eagle 2: “Roger that, Eagle 1. Coming up on bogie now, target locked.”
Eagle 1: “Roger that, Eagle 2. I don’t have a fix on the bogie. Go ahead, you’re clear to splash the bogie.”
Eagle 2: “Roger that, Eagle 1. Bogie has been eliminated. Do you have Air Force 1 in sight?”
Eagle 1: “uhh, negatory, Eagle 2. That was the bogie you splashed.”
Eagle 2: “Whoops!”
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