F-18 Supersonic Jet Fighter Buzzes Berkeley
by Brandon Mercer
January 27, 2015 Share on email
UPDATED: BERKELEY (CBS SF) — An F/A-18 Super Hornet Navy fighter jet buzzed Berkeley Tuesday, and created quite the buzz on Twitter as its fast and loud flyover got plenty of attention.One person reported the plane as low as 300-500 feet.
“I thought it may have been an earthquake. Pretty much the entire building was shaking,” said Ryen Banihashemi. “I thought maybe some people were running on the roof, honestly I had idea. It was that loud.”
The jet fighter flew from Naval Air Station Lemoore, south of Fresno. On Wednesday, the base commander responded to complaints.
Public Affairs Commander Jeannie Groeneveld told KPIX 5, “To answer your question, A U.S. Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet from Naval Air Station Lemoore, California, flew at 2,500-3,000 feet over Berkeley at approximately 2 p.m. PST Jan. 27. The F/A 18 was under Federal Aviation Administration control throughout the training flight. While training missions in the local area are common and the pilot was under positive FAA control, the U.S. Navy is investigating the flight to ensure the aviator complied with all FAA and U.S. Navy regulations.”
The “familiarization flight” requires the pilot to fly by looking outside the aircraft instead of relying on instruments, and this involved transitioning to a lower altitude
Ian Gregor from the FAA confirms that, “FAA regulations require airplanes to be at least 1,000 feet above the nearest obstacle when flying over densely populated areas. My understanding is the F-18 never got below 2,500 feet.”
That’s not what locals observed, however.
Many people wondered about the flight path and nature of the flight, some seriously, others in true Berkeley fashion.
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