Sonic boom as RAF jets race to intercept flight
Miles per hour an aircraft is flying at when it breaks the sound barrier
RAF Typhoons
A HUGE sonic boom woke residents and shook houses as two fighter jets thundered through the night sky to intercept an unresponsive plane.
The “explosion” came at 4.20am as the RAF Typhoons were cleared to fly at supersonic speeds to catch the Boeing 767-300 and see if it was a threat.
They were launched under “quick reaction alert procedures”, the MoD said, after the flight from Tel Aviv lost contact with air-traffic control.
People in London, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire were roused by the bang.
Shelby Loasby said: “Woke up around 4.18 to what felt like an explosion.
“A loud bang and a vibra
TWO years ago I was on then-PM Theresa May’s RAF Voyager when it was intercepted by Typhoons in a planned training exercise.
At 17,000ft above the North Sea off the Norfolk coast, we watched as the jets tipped their tion that shook our block of flats.” Andrew Holding, from Cambridge, added: “Nice to get woken up by a #sonicboom in Cambridge.”
Dr Jim Wild of Lancaster University said the phenomenon occurs when a plane breaks the sound barrier.
He explained: “When an aircraft approaches the speed of sound – 768mph – air in front of the nose builds up a pressure front because it has nowhere to escape.
“Sonic boom happens when that air escapes, creating a ripple which can be heard as a thunderclap.”
After the Boeing was intercepted, its radio links were re-established and the Typhoons returned to base at RAF Coningsby, Lincs.
SHELBY LOASBY AFTER BEING WOKEN BY BOOM wings to reveal their awesome firepower to our “enemy” plane.
The pilots scrambled yesterday could not have known if they were off to tackle a hijacked flight, a bomber or an innocent plane.
These Top Guns keep us safe and for that we must be grateful.
Woke up around 4.18 to what felt like an explosion