Autobots are after the President!

QmTablit · Aug 17, 2010

KOMO News said:

SEATTLE

Two F-15 fighter jets scrambled from Portland to deal with a float plane that had entered restricted presidential air space over Western Washington caused two sonic booms that were heard across a wide swath of the region, the FAA reported Tuesday, fraying nerves and knocking out 911 service to parts of Pierce County for about an hour.

The plane landed safely at a float plane harbor in Kenmore on the northern shores of Lake Washington, a worker at the harbor told KOMO News.

Several calls from worried residents from Olympia to Edmonds flooded emergency dispatchers and the KOMO Newsroom reporting two distinct explosions that rattled windows and shook homes around 1:50 p.m.

A spokesman with the Oregon Air National Guard said two F-15s from their 142nd Fighter Wing were scrambled on a "real world mission" from their base at Portland International Airport. The FAA had restricted a large area to aircraft over Seattle due to President Obama's visit.

NORAD Spokesman John Cornelio the aircraft left the restricted area before the Air National Guard jets arrived, and there was no intercept. Meanwhile, a source told ABC News a small plane violated the temporary flight restrictions and landed at a local airport about 8 miles away from where the president was -- just before the fighter jets got to him.

Todd Banks with Kenmore Air, who owns the harbor where the plane landed, says the float plane was a private Cessna 180 with a man and woman on board. He says a police car had already arrived at the scene.

The source with ABC News says the Secret Service will interview the pilot out of an abundance of caution, but it seems to be a fairly routine matter and does not look to be anything sinister at this point.

Det. Ed Troyer with the Pierce County Sheriff's Department says that the booms brought down 911 service across parts of Pierce County for about an hour, with service restored just before 3 p.m. Troyer asks that people do not call 911 to report the boom.

"Many house and car alarms have been set off that we will not be able to respond to," said Troyer.

At KOMO News we have been getting lots of e-mails from community members who heard the boom:

Julie McCollough from Des Moines: "Our house shook like a semi truck had just smashed into it. I grabbed my children out of the house and into the yard where most all of my neighbors had also gone and no one had a clue about what had happened and are still wondering about what had happened."

Irene Fruzzetti from Tacoma: "The buildings and windows shook."

Molly Carmody from Yelm: "One huge boom was heard in Yelm that blew curtains in through windows around 1:45 p.m. today. It was followed by two smaller booms."

Ginger Watson from Federal Way: "Really LOUD, shaking windows in central Federal Way."

Mike West from Chehalis: "There were a couple of large booms around Chehalis about 1:30-1:45 this afternoon."
Click to expand...

F-15s racing to Seattle trigger sonic booms | KOMO News | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News - Seattle, Washington | Local & Regional

LOL Heard the sonic booms myself, I just thought the neighbor (I live in a townhome) fell or something.

Chaos Muffin · Aug 17, 2010

They should put up "No Sonic Booming" signs in the city.

Mr. Sparklebot · Aug 17, 2010

"Too many sonic booms!"

Coeloptera · Aug 18, 2010

Autobots?

I think not.

- Coeloptera

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Autobots are after the President!

QmTablit BotBot in the what, I said BotBot in the what

Chaos Muffin Misadventure Veteran

Mr. Sparklebot 'Til All Are Juan

Coeloptera Big, bad beetle-bot

Log in or Sign up

Autobots are after the President!

QmTablit BotBot in the what, I said BotBot in the what

Chaos Muffin Misadventure Veteran

Mr. Sparklebot 'Til All Are Juan

Coeloptera Big, bad beetle-bot

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