Bengaluru sonic boom mystery solved: It was an IAF test flight

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru,May 20, 2020:  The mystery of the sonic boom of the Bengaluru airspace has been finally solved. The loud noise heard over the city was the result of a routine Indian Air Force test flight, the defence ministry has said.

"It was a routine IAF Test Flight involving a supersonic profile which took off from Bluru Airport and flew in the allotted airspace well outside City limits. The aircraft was of Aircraft Systems and Testing Establishment (ASTE)," a Ministry of Defence statement said, IndiaToday reported.

 

Several theories for the noise were floated after it was heard over 21 kilometres area of Bengaluru at 1.20 pm on Wednesday.

The internet went into overdrive as anxious netizens speculated whether it was an earthquake or an explosion, but it was neither. Police in the Karnataka capital said that there is no evidence of an explosion in the city and no damage has been caused after the sound was heard.

"It is a booming sound which was heard across eastern Bengaluru - from the international airport, Kalyan Nagar, MG Road, Marathahalli, Whitefield, Sarjapur, Electronic City, right up to Hebbagodi. We are trying to ascertain the source of the noise. In Whitefield, we have searched on the ground and so far, there is no damage to anything. HAL and IAF authorities have both been contacted. So, let’s wait for their information and not speculate," the DCP of Whitefield area told India Today TV.

But the mystery ends here.

The defence ministry said that the aircraft belonged to Aircraft Systems and Testing Establishment, whose test pilots and flight test engineers routinely test out all aeroplanes. "The sonic boom was probably heard while the aircraft was decelerating from supersonic to subsonic speed between 36,000 and 40000 feet altitude," the ministry said.

"The aircraft was far away from the city limits when this occurred. The sound of a sonic boom can be heard and felt by an observer even when the aircraft is flying as far away as 65 to 80 kilometres away from the person," it said.