Sonic boom in Bengaluru caused by IAF fighter jet on routine sortie, says defence ministry, but not before wild theories take hold of city
An Indian Air Force fighter plane on a routine sortie caused the sonic boom that created panic across Bengaluru on Wednesday afternoon, the defence ministry confirmed late on Wednesday night.
#Update It was a routine IAF Test Flight involving a supersonic profile which took off from Bluru Airport and flew in the allotted airspace well outside City limits. The aircraft was of Aircraft Systems and Testing Establishment (ASTE) @IAF_MCC @SpokespersonMoD
— PRO Bengaluru, Ministry of Defence (@Prodef_blr) May 20, 2020
"The sonic boom was probably heard while the aircraft was decelerating from supersonic to subsonic speed between 36,000 and 40000 feet altitude," the defence ministry added in a follow up tweet. "The aircraft was far away from the city limits when this occurred. The sound of a sonic boom can be heard and felt by an observer even when the aircraft is flying as far away as 65 to 80 kilometres away from the person," the defence ministry further said on Twitter. Sources told The Times of India the fighter plane was most likely one of the SU-30 fighters being tested by the IAF's Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment pilots. A retired pilot told the newspaper, "There are parameters of how to do a supersonic test. If it is indeed from a plane, then it's a mistake. Pilots can go supersonic only after the aircraft has attained a height of more than 11 km. They are disallowed from doing so in populous areas even at those heights." According to NASA , a sonic boom is a thunder-like noise one hears from the ground when an aircraft flies overhead "faster than the speed of sound, or supersonic.” The noise heard across Bengaluru around 1.30 pm on Wednesday was heard by residents of Cooke Town, Hosur Road, HAL, Vivek Nagar, Old Madras Road, Ramamurthy Nagar, Ulsoor, Kammanahalli, CV Raman Nagar, Kundanahalli, Whitefield and HSR Layout. It caused a number of people to share their experiences on social media and speculate about its cause. Some said the noise sounded like an aftershock from an earthquake. Others said their doors and windows rattled.
Such a loud noise all across Bengaluru around 1:30 pm!! What was it? #BangaloreBoom #BengaluruBoom #Boom #Bangalore #Bengaluru #SonicBoom #SonicSound #BangaloreSky #Sound #LoudSound pic.twitter.com/Jqz3sVUJ2g — Hatti Kaapi (@hatti_kaapi) May 20, 2020
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That was most likely a big sonic boom. Shaking buildings and windows. Shock around 20 minutes ago. Later I can see and hear fighter aircrafts taking sorties. #Bengaluru #Bangalore https://t.co/QQWqHtJPtc pic.twitter.com/gjF2uJMnnZ
— Neeraj Sharma (@Neeraj_Sharma_) May 20, 2020
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Anyone else felt the tremor in Bangalore n Experienced a slight earthquake today #earthquake #bangalorelockdown #corona @tv9kannada @publictvnews @DgpKarnataka @TOIBengaluru #Bengaluru...
