Military training exercise causes sonic boom in Caithness and north Sutherland
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HOUSES shook and windows rattled after a military training exercise created a sonic boom in parts of Caithness and north Sutherland this week.
The incident, which occurred around lunchtime on Tuesday, resulted in a loud bang like an explosion and was heard in Castletown, Watten, Thurso, Lybster, Halkirk, Staxigoe, Lyth, Barrock and Bettyhill. A sonic boom is caused when an object travels through the air faster than the speed of sound and creates shock waves.
The event happened after the Royal Air Force (RAF) completed a practice Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) involving a Typhoon Fighter aircraft.
An RAF spokesman said: "The profile flown by the aircraft involved supersonic flight which was authorised and flown within the regulations for such an event. Any inconvenience caused to the public is regretted.
"It was a training exercise and so the intercept was on a aircraft that regularly works with RAF assets for electronic warfare training namely a Draken Aviation operated DA20," he added.
The incident triggered a number of comments on the website of the John O' Groat Journal, sister paper to the Northern Times, after the story was reported there.
Lorraine Horrobin who stays in Occumster, near Lybster, said: "Our house shook. We were sitting in the kitchen when a loud thudding sound went off. We immediately thought something had fallen on the roof and went outside to check but (there was) nothing. We thought we heard a jet but never saw it."
Stella Smith said: "My husband and I heard the sonic boom and my husband heard a plane travelling in the distance. We live in Halkirk."
Gavin Pope commented: "The boom was heard in Corsback so loud it shook the windows. Aircraft could be heard at the same time" while Arthur Watson from Scotscalder said: "It was a sonic boom, was immediately followed by sound of Jet aircraft flying at several thousand feet, plus another one following at a lower altitude."
A Quick Reaction Alert is a routine part of the RAF’s air defence role to protect UK airspace. Aircraft are held "at immediate readiness to protect the United Kingdom and can take off within minutes."
These QRA missions are launched to intercept aircraft which cannot be identified by any other means – the aircraft is not talking to civilian or military Air Traffic Control, has not filed a flight plan and / or is not transmitting a recognisable secondary surveillance radar code.
The RAF spokesman said: "The paramount duty of the RAF is to control the airspace over the UK and, when necessary, UK interests overseas. Our multi-role Typhoon fighter squadrons complete QRA duties from RAF Coningsby (Lincolnshire), RAF Lossiemouth (Scotland) and in the Falkland Islands.
"Today and every day, just as during the Battle of Britain, they maintain the highest level of readiness. In the UK, under the direction of our Air Battlespace Controllers at RAF Boulmer (Northumberland) our fighters can be scrambled to intercept, identify and, if required, intervene aircraft approaching our shores," he added.
QRA procedures entail RAF aircraft and crews being held at continuous high readiness 24/7, so that they can take off within minutes to protect UK / NATO sovereign airspace. The Fighter aircraft provide a rapid response to "any possible incident or threat."
