We’ve had a couple of questions about loud helicopters overhead in the last several days.
Sal wrote: “I noticed them over my house (Northeast 98th Street and 17th Avenue Northeast ) on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday afternoons and Friday morning.
Sometimes just one, sometimes up to six, always going straight north or south (not circling/banking). I’m used to traffic helicopters and the Coast Guard ones that go by late afternoon and these are not like those. These have no TV markings and are shake-the-ground loud. I’m assuming they’re military but does anyone have details?
We don’t have details on those flights last week, but we can tell you that you may be seeing some action today.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) will conduct exercise flights today as they practice intercept and identification procedures. Exercise flights will take place over the Olympic Peninsula and Puget Sound area of Washington State. Although they are scheduled for early morning, the exercise flights could be delayed due to weather concerns.
The NORAD release goes on to say fighter jets will be seen in close proximity to target aircraft. “In order to test responses, systems and equipment, NORAD continuously conducts exercises with a variety of scenarios, including airspace restriction violations, hijackings and responding to unknown aircraft.”
It is noteworthy, and a vast relief, that the huge helicopters that used to operate out of north Boeing Field are gone. I thought they were the single worst noise impact on our neighborhood, and by far the noisiest aircraft. They took up to a full minute to clear the area, shook the house, and were loud enough to bother the deaf. Thanks to whoever sent them elsewhere.
They were part of the safety pre-precautionyAir Force that follows Oboma where ever he goes. They were SS leading the waythe pres.
Yeah, they were part of the Presidential visit — I felt like a doofus when I saw the news & there were the same helicopters (unusual wide tails) at Paine Field. My husband thinks they are based at JBLM, which could explain why they were flying around days in advance of the visit. A couple other neighborhood websites have comments about them — Ballard, Issaquah, etc — at various times going back 2 years (that I’ve seen). So JBLM makes sense — assorted exercises. They are mos’ definitely loud & distinctive.
I saw and definately heard some of those helicopters last week too. I assume it was due to the presidential visit last Friday at Boeing Everett – and then on to Bellevue for a fundraiser via Marine 1.