Loud bang of unknown origin heard over England

[Deleted]

Thats what I always thought, anybody know how far the sound travels?

It is a common misconception that only "one" boom is generated during the subsonic to supersonic transition, rather, the boom is continuous along the boom carpet for the entire supersonic flight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_boom

lol too slow.

[ryotte]

Same thing has happened twice in AL in the past couple years and with the same explanation. I didn't know AL had tons of super-fast sound-barrier-breaking jet action. The worst part was listening to the newspeople read the wikipedia article for "sonic boom".

[Deleted]

Not a major aircraft buff, but it depends where the Typhoons are based and therefore flew from, and where they were scrambled to.

For example, some are based at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, if the emergency is Anglesy, thats a fair few conties they fly over, and at that speed they would cross the variouse counties in a relatively short time span.

Not only that, but this is the new Eurofighter Typhoon, a relatively unheard aircraft in the UK at full throttle.

BTW I live in Chepstow, didnt hear the boom, but definately a fighter aircraft flying sub-sonic speed (but still quick as f***) in the audible vicinity around that time -ish.

New Experimental Eurofighter under the guise of typhoon(!?!?!)

[Deleted]

We all know the Reapers primary target will be London. With a black guy named Anderson that clearly speaks as if he was from the states holding the final line, but hey... he was born there.

Have you ever heard of a guitarist called Slash? (;

[Deleted]

Perhaps it was Nick Clegg's helicopter exploding in a thunder storm?

[Deleted]

New Experimental Eurofighter under the guise of typhoon(!?!?!)

http://www.eurofighter.com/

FYI

[Deleted]

Perhaps it was Nick Clegg's helicopter exploding in a thunder storm?

Dont get our hopes up like that!

[Deleted]

Was a Typhoon over Oxfordshire apparently. Only reason it would be there would be intercepting, that's the only time they're allowed to go supersonic over land.

But yeah, sonic boom.

[bekilrwale]

Nyan cat breaking the sound barrier as he reenters the atmosphere.

[Zeljo]

It's The Reapers, and they won't stop until all organic life has been wiped out.

[Twilightdawn]

After reading the BBC article, did anyone else facepalm when they went over the part that the guy in the helicopter was in no trouble at all and on the wrong radio channel?

[Deleted]

After reading the BBC article, did anyone else facepalm when they went over the part that the guy in the helicopter was in no trouble at all and on the wrong radio channel?

Yeah, but on the other hand it's nice to know response to such things when they actually do occur will be rapid.

[Deleted]

Most intriguing, I did not hear anything down in Portsmouth.

I too live in Portsmouth! I didn't hear anything but then i've been up nearly 36 hours and my brain is starting to melt a bit.

[mirthen]

People who say it cant be a jet going supersonic have likely never actually heard a jet going supersonic. They can and do shake buildings, rattle windows, so on. However on most normal occasions they are not permitted to do so over or near residential areas. Even back during the time of the Concord still flying, they did not go supersonic till they were away from populated areas, and well up in the sky, so it was almost never heard on the ground.

[Aryl]

Heard nothing and was in the north of england!!

[Twilightdawn]

Yeah, but on the other hand it's nice to know response to such things when they actually do occur will be rapid.

I guess, but if this guy was in no real emergency, why did they send two jets at super sonic speeds to help him. Helicopter man must be embarrassed

[kleinlax21]

I guess, but if this guy was in no real emergency, why did they send two jets at super sonic speeds to help him. Helicopter man must be embarrassed

In the united states (not sure how y'all across the pond operate) most commercially operating aircraft are required to have a piece of equipment called a transponder.

A transponder is used to assign an aircraft an identity number that conveys location, airspeed, and altitude to air traffic controllers, which helps in the coordination of air traffic. it is also used to identify the current procedures an aircraft is operating on, such as "we're about to land" or "we're flying at high altitude straight and level with no intent to land soon".

each transponder (in the US, at least) has a four-digit readout of your personal "ID number", and it is frequently changed in flight by the operator of the aircraft for various reasons. two specific combinations of these 4-digit codes correspond to "help, I'm in an emergency situation" and "help, my aircraft has been hijacked". when any of these two codes are punched in, or even scrolled past while punching in a different number, all sorts of automated alerts are triggered, and it is completely realistic to have military action be implemented if either of these codes are punched in or even scrolled past.

because of this, it's quite possible that the pilot of the aircraft didn't even know he triggered what was possibly an automated emergency response until he saw the RAF aircraft next to him.

all in all, it can probably be attributed to a mistake due to inexperience.

[Deleted]

I guess, but if this guy was in no real emergency, why did they send two jets at super sonic speeds to help him. Helicopter man must be embarrassed

The didn't know it wasn't an emergency until they were en route and the helicopter pilot noticed he was on the wrong frequency.

It happens a lot, people on the wrong frequency.

[kleinlax21]

The didn't know it wasn't an emergency until they were en route and the helicopter pilot noticed he was on the wrong frequency.

It happens a lot, people on the wrong frequency.

I find it hard to believe he simply found himself "on the wrong" frequency, for a number of reasons. In the first place, you're generally required to be on a specific frequency because at any time, an air traffic controller who's watching your aircraft might issue you a critical command you will need to follow. Secondly, one simply doesn't meander onto the emergency frequency; it's drilled into every prospective pilot's head before he even takes control of the aircraft for the first time. Thirdly, simply loitering on the emergency frequency doesn't illicit any response; only transmitting over the frequency does. If he so much as squeaked on said emergency frequency without issuing an actual emergency situation, he would have been immediately yelled off the frequency.

For these reasons, I believe he set his transponder to indicate he was experiencing a hijack situation, and not just an emergency situation such as a power failure, which explains the urgency issued by two RAF military aircraft responding to him

[Deleted]

I find it hard to believe he simply found himself "on the wrong" frequency, for a number of reasons. In the first place, you're generally required to be on a specific frequency because at any time, an air traffic controller who's watching your aircraft might issue you a critical command you will need to follow. Secondly, one simply doesn't meander onto the emergency frequency; it's drilled into every prospective pilot's head before he even takes control of the aircraft for the first time. Thirdly, simply loitering on the emergency frequency doesn't illicit any response; only transmitting over the frequency does. If he so much as squeaked on said emergency frequency without issuing an actual emergency situation, he would have been immediately yelled off the frequency.

For these reasons, I believe he set his transponder to indicate he was experiencing a hijack situation, and not just an emergency situation such as a power failure, which explains the urgency issued by two RAF military aircraft responding to him

It was a distress signal transmitted. Distress signals on that frequency would generally warrant the response that it did.