Sonic boom suspected after Pakistan panic: Officials

[EagleEyes]

Sonic boom suspected after Pakistan panic: Officials

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's air force said it was checking on Monday whether a sonic boom was responsible for a loud noise that caused panic in the capital Islamabad and neighbouring Rawalpindi.

Television channels flashed reports of two blasts being heard and the sound rattled windows in both cities, which have experienced a number of suicide bombings blamed on Taliban militants in recent months.

Pakistan Air Force spokesman Air Commodore Humayun Waqar Jaffer said there were no flights over the city at the time "however flying activity was being conducted as per routine training programmes at nearby bases."

The nearest base to Islamabad is at Kamra, some 70 kilometers (43 miles) northwest of here.

"There could be a possibility that in case of crossing the sound barrier, a sonic boom could have reached this place (Islamabad) in clear weather conditions," Jaffer told AFP.

"We are checking it because it is still not confirmed that it happened like this."

In September 2004, the air force confirmed that a fighter jet on a test flight from the Kamra base was responsible for a "supersonic boom" which also caused panic in the capital.

Pakistan has been on alert in recent days due to an operation against militants near the northwestern city of Peshawar and an announcement by Taliban rebels that they had halted peace talks with the government.

Sonic boom suspected after Pakistan panic: Officials-Pakistan-World-The Times of India

 

[fatman17]

F-7P enjoying the clear blue skies!

 

[Neo]

F-7P crosses sound barrier: It was sonic boom, not bomb ​

RAWALPINDI: An F-7P fighter aircraft of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) on Monday crossed the sound barrier, causing a big sonic boom and creating panic in the twin cities and other areas where it was heard loudly.

The boom was heard at 11am not only in the twin cities but also in Chakwal, Attock, Kahuta, Gujar Khan, Kallar Syedian, Murree and some parts of Kashmir.

The aircraft was on a scheduled Functional Control Flight Mission when it transited from 40,000 feet to 15,000 feet altitude, resulting into a mega sonic boom. The boom wave travelled fast from the higher altitude to adjacent areas, it said.

At first, it was mistaken for a bomb blast, fears of which grew stronger from the fact that the garrison town has been a target of suicide attacks for quite some time.

“We have combed Rawalpindi and checked all the main areas and hospitals, but there is nothing,” a senior city police official told Reuters about 45 minutes after the sonic boom was heard.

A military official said there had been no bomb explosion at any of the main military installations in Rawalpindi.

AP reported that the people thought that Taliban had realised their promise to revenge for a military operation against extremists near the Afghan border by blowing a bomb in the city.

Residents told Daily Times that they came out of their houses to find out what exactly had happened while the streets were abuzz with rumours. Police vehicles were zooming in and out on city roads, making it sure that no nook and cranny was left unchecked.

Officials of Rescue 1122, Emergency Rescue 15, Edhi Foundation, Fire Brigade patrolled the areas close to the President’s Camp Office, General Headquarters (GHQ), Islamabad International Airport, and the route for movement of VVIPs from the airport to Islamabad.

Rescue 1122 officials said cantonment areas and other sensitive places were visited for fear of terrorist attacks as the boom sounded like a bomb explosion.

Bomb disposal squad also remained active. In addition, media offices received hundreds of telephone calls from panicked callers who wanted to know what the situation was actually.

Muhammad Sohail, a resident of Chaklala, said he woke up to the pealing sounds and found his family running for a shelter as they were under the impression that the house had collapsed. The earth, he said, was trembling the way it was after 2005 earthquake.

“Traffic came to a halt when the ‘blasts’ were heard at Kutcheri Chowk. The motorists came out of vehicles, looking for origin of the blast,” said Shamim.

Muhammad Ajmal, a resident of Airport Colony, said he contacted his friends and family to ascertain that they were safe.

Regional Police Officer (RPO) Nasir Khan Durrani and City Police Officer (CPO) Rao Muhammad Iqbal said the police and security agencies were unable to trace origin of the sound unless the PAF released a press statement that it was caused by an aircraft crossing the sound barrier.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Myth_buster_1]

is it the media that is blowing this sonic boom incident out of proportion or does the sonic boom really makes such a bang noise? i have seen couple of videos of fighters breaking sound barrier but still not close to what pakistani media is describing...?

 

[alibaz]

There was a huge noise. we v heard and felt it

 

[Muradk]

They were not F-7s they wereJF-!7's , during practice ACM one of the plane went supersonic. This is just the start people of pindi Islamabad just have to live with it, I dont know how many of you have lived in Shorkot and sargodha. They get average of 10 to 15 SB's a day. In 1979 people of Sahikhpura offically launched a complaint against PAF that they get more than 20 booms a day. because while you are doing ACM and dog-fight in CCS Mirage will do loop and in sec it go supersonic, Once the noise is pointed downwards it creates a bang. The boom is so loud that it can shatter windows that why the hard deck is 12000ft to ACM's. Things get out of hands so quickly in CCS that it is like the real thing. And while you at the controls you will do anything to shoot the other guy for points and this is just normal.

 

[Myth_buster_1]

They were not F-7s they wereJF-!7's , during practice ACM one of the plane went supersonic. This is just the start people of pindi Islamabad just have to live with it, I dont know how many of you have lived in Shorkot and sargodha. They get average of 10 to 15 SB's a day. In 1979 people of Sahikhpura offically launched a complaint against PAF that they get more than 20 booms a day. because while you are doing ACM and dog-fight in CCS Mirage will do loop and in sec it go supersonic, Once the noise is pointed downwards it creates a bang. The boom is so loud that it can shatter windows that why the hard deck is 12000ft to ACM's. Things get out of hands so quickly in CCS that it is like the real thing. And while you at the controls you will do anything to shoot the other guy for points and this is just normal.

why PAF didnt name the true fighter "JF-17" or was it the media?

 

[Munir]

We had here in Holland a few times the same. Last time 2 f16's went supersonic while intercepting inbound unknown passenger aircraft... Nothing unusual.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

is it the media that is blowing this sonic boom incident out of proportion or does the sonic boom really makes such a bang noise? i have seen couple of videos of fighters breaking sound barrier but still not close to what pakistani media is describing...?

below roughly 3000 feet altitude, a sonic boom can shatter every single window and rattle every door and furniture in your house

 

[JonAsad]

what brought me here?

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

i was asking myself the same question!

i think i may have inadvertently 'bumped' an old, grumpy topic! apologies

 

[JonAsad]

no appologies required sir, i think this thread may answer the burning question on this thread
http://www.defence.pk/forums/jf-17-thunder/74163-jf-17-zuhai-air-show-2010-a-53.html

 

[Windjammer]

YouTube - Sonic Boom - Extreme Close Fly By

 

[wali87]

Well I do hope it wasn't a bomb blast on the president or prime minister house which the Gov is trying to cover up. I hope its just a Sonic Boom. Its not that difficult to differentiate between a sonic boom and a bomb if you can tell a gun by the sound it makes..

Well do we have any people from Islamabad here who can describe the incident if they were awake, present or whatever there.. because i had a person here saying it felt just like the 2005 earthquake. Since i was present in Islamabad at that time and I also have witnessed several sonic booms in my life.. I think it shouldn't be that difficult to separate the two.

So what was it.. i'm still confused!

 

[pakistantiger]

i av seen a mirage my self 5 years ago wen it crossed the sound barrier n created a sonic boom, i was standing in my fields wen it happend n the figther was on tree top height