A sonic boom was heard over Essex<\/a> after two RAF<\/a> fighter jets scrambled to intercept a private jet that lost contact with air traffic control.<\/p>\n Two Typhoon<\/a> jets took off from RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire<\/a>, to make the intercept of a San Marino<\/a>-registered aircraft over Cambridgeshire<\/a> on Friday morning.<\/p>\n Residents of southern Essex, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk<\/a>, Kent<\/a> and parts of London<\/a> reported hearing the loud bang at around 11.35am.<\/p>\n Jenny Coxal, of Dartford, Essex, was at home when she heard a loud \u201cvacuum-style\u201d bang and thought someone had hit her garage.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought it was someone hitting our garage, but when I went outside, all our neighbours were on the street, wondering what had happened,\u201d she told Kent Online.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n An RAF spokesperson said the civilian aircraft was safely escorted to Stansted Airport after it lost contact with air traffic control (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n A sonic boom occurs when an aircraft travels faster than the speed of sound, generating shockwaves that rapidly compress and decompress the air.<\/p>\n The speed of sound is about 660mph (1,060km\/h) at 60,000ft (18,300m) but can vary depending on altitude.<\/p>\n One witness took to social media, saying: \u201cSonic boom just heard over Hornchurch. Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 went overhead,\u201d chimed another.<\/p>\n Another person posted a picture of flight tracker, saying: \u201cEurofighter typhoon escorting a plane to Stansted. Causing the sonic boom all over Essex. People heard it as far as bexleyheath!\u201d<\/p>\n 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”.<\/p>\n In Burwell, Cambridgeshire, another woman wrote: \u201cThought something blew up in my loft\u201d.<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/iStock-1432300761-(1).jpeg\")
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