Military AircrewA forum for the professionals who fly the non-civilian hardware, and the backroom boys and girls without whom nothing would leave the ground. Army, Navy and Airforces of the World, all equally welcome here.
Anyone know the origin of the big bang about 1810 hrs heard around Swindon, Wroughton, Bassett areas? Shook windows; clouds too far away for thunder... clues, anyone? cc
Thousands of people fled from their homes in Swindon earlier today as massive supersonic explosions rocked the area as an RAF jet, armed with live nuclear warheads, way off its normal course, careered overhead at Mach 4 (almost 5,000 mph) with the heroic pilot wrestling with the controls to avoid a crowded shopping centre and a school. 17 year old Tricie Littlechav, interviewed with her children Chardonnay (4) and Boxer (2) said : "I was ****ing scared, I can ****ing tell ya. I fought it was the ****ing end of the ****ing world, dinnoi."
Linked BBC story now saying it was sonic boom from a Typhoon "responding to an emergency" in shape of "a helicopter transmitting on the wrong frequency".
Typhoon sonic boom behind mysterious bang reports - MoD A loud bang which sparked a deluge of calls to emergency services across a large part of England was a sonic boom from a Typhoon aircraft, the MoD said.
Mystified residents across the West Midlands, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset and Wiltshire reported hearing a loud boom at about 18:10 BST.
The MoD revealed it was from a Typhoon responding to an emergency call.
A Coventry resident said: "I thought somebody had thrown a brick through the window."
The Ministry of Defence initially said it was investigating what was behind a loud noise in Oxfordshire but a spokesman later confirmed it was from one of two RAF Typhoons that had been launched following an emergency call from a helicopter.
The helicopter had transmitted on the wrong frequency, he said.
Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service had also said it was looking into what caused the noise, after a flood of calls.
Some of those who heard it said the sound lasted a few seconds.
The British Geological Survey had also said it was investigating the incident.
There were reports of the noise being heard in Bath, Swindon, Coventry, Rugby and Oxford.
The Ministry of Defence initially said it was investigating what was behind a loud noise in Oxfordshire but a spokesman later confirmed it was from one of two RAF Typhoons that had been launched following an emergency call from a helicopter.
Sorry but the bull-meter is registering 11 on the manure scale. What are a brace of Typhoons going to achieve ? "Errr yes boss, he isn't kidding, it is indeed a helicopter and my mate says that he agrees as he once saw a helicopter in a book."
I suspect that somebody dropped a boomer by mistake.
Also on the BBC website is a piece about an earthquake in the West Midlands just four minutes earlier. Connected? I think we should be told! Typhoons making the earth move? Tornados were forecast for today......
I think we heard the tail end of this on Guard between the (chopper) pilot and D&D. If it was the case then:
Quote:
The helicopter had transmitted on the wrong frequency
was actually an inadvertent, or system malfunction, emergency squawk. I'll leave any more details of the RT conversations out, it was a fairly low key discussion, but "something" had clearly happened to trigger it (2 FJs alongside ?).
And whether such an event / scramble merits a supersonic transit, or maybe someone was a little enthusiastic with the left hand, I'll leave to those in the know
Now staying on line for the standard runway.
