Bengaluru News: The aircraft was far away from city limits when the sonic boom occured
A mysterious "boom" heard in large parts of Bengaluru this afternoon that left residents of the city and social media users puzzled later turned out to be the sonic boom of a test aircraft.
"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)," the Defence Ministry tweeted. "…The sonic boom was probably heard while the aircraft was decelerating from supersonic to subsonic speed between 36,000 and 40000 feet altitude," it 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," the ministry said.
#Update
— PRO Bengaluru, Ministry of Defence (@Prodef_blr) May 20, 2020
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) @IAF_MCC @SpokespersonMoD
The sound was heard from as far as the Bengaluru airport in Devanahalli to the IT hub of Electronic City 54 km away. It was also heard in Kalyan Nagar in east Bengaluru, central Bengaluru's MG Road and areas such as Marathahalli, Whitefield, Sarjapur and Hebbagodi.
Many people had speculated that the sound could have been caused by a fighter jet.
It was not an earthquake, Karnataka's state disaster monitoring centre had tweeted earlier.
"Earthquake activity will not be restricted to one area and will be widespread. We have checked our sensors and there is no earthquake activity recorded today," the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre said, quoting its director Srinivas Reddy.
Earthquake activity will not be restricted to one area and will be widespread. We have checked our sensors and there is no earthquake activity recorded today," says Srinivas Reddy, Director of KSNDMC
— KSNDMC (@KarnatakaSNDMC) May 20, 2020
The activity reported in Bengaluru is not due to an Earthquake. The Seismometers did not capture any Ground Vibration as generally happens during a mild Tremor. The activity is purely a loud unknown noise.
— KSNDMC (@KarnatakaSNDMC) May 20, 2020
"The activity reported in Bengaluru is not due to an earthquake. The seismometers did not capture any ground vibration as generally happens during a mild Tremor. The activity is purely a loud unknown noise," the agency tweeted.
#Bangalore and #BangaloreBoom was among the top trends on Twitter this afternoon.
My dear fellow Bangaloreans, every loud sound you hear is not a transformer going bust ????????????
— Nandita Iyer (@saffrontrail) May 20, 2020
Did anybody else feel a loud rumble and vibrations for a few seconds in Bangalore around 1:25 pm? It sounded like an explosion. My windows shook and the neighbors came out on the streets looking surprised. #earthquake #bangalore
— Prakash Mishra (@pmishra1598) May 20, 2020
Loud explosive sound with vibration in bangalore. Anyone else experienced it? #bangalore #earthquake
— Corner Stone (@ry_avish) May 20, 2020
There were no calls to the police control room reporting any damage.
