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A sonic boom was heard over Essex after two RAF fighter jets scrambled to intercept a private jet that lost contact with air traffic control.
Two Typhoon jets took off from RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire, to make the intercept of a San Marino-registered aircraft over Cambridgeshire on Friday morning.
Residents of southern Essex, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Kent and parts of London reported hearing the loud bang at around 11.35am.
Jenny Coxal, of Dartford, Essex, was at home when she heard a loud “vacuum-style” bang and thought someone had hit her garage.
“I thought it was someone hitting our garage, but when I went outside, all our neighbours were on the street, wondering what had happened,” she told Kent Online.
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An RAF spokesperson said the civilian aircraft was safely escorted to Stansted Airport after it lost contact with air traffic control (Getty/iStock)
A sonic boom occurs when an aircraft travels faster than the speed of sound, generating shockwaves that rapidly compress and decompress the air.
The speed of sound is about 660mph (1,060km/h) at 60,000ft (18,300m) but can vary depending on altitude.
One witness took to social media, saying: “Sonic boom just heard over Hornchurch. Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 went overhead,” chimed another.
Another person posted a picture of flight tracker, saying: “Eurofighter typhoon escorting a plane to Stansted. Causing the sonic boom all over Essex. People heard it as far as bexleyheath!”
A woman in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk said it “rattled” her back door, while in north Kent one person commented that it “shook the whole house – we thought there had been an explosion”.
In Burwell, Cambridgeshire, another woman wrote: “Thought something blew up in my loft”.
An RAF spokesperson said the civilian aircraft was safely escorted to Stansted Airport after it lost contact with air traffic control.
It said: “We can confirm that RAF Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) Typhoon fighter aircraft from RAF Coningsby were launched today to investigate a civilian aircraft which was not in contact with air traffic control.
“Communications were re-established and the aircraft was safely escorted to Stansted. The Typhoons are returning to base.”
An Essex Police spokesperson said: “A flight has been escorted into Stansted Airport after it lost contact with the ground.
“Contact was re-established with the plane, which had been travelling from Nice, and was escorted into the airport by RAF aircraft. On the ground, our officers determined there was nothing of concern.”