A sonic boom has been heard over London and Cambridge after two RAF jets were scrambled to intercept a private plane.
The aircraft was travelling from Germany and had lost communication with air traffic controllers.
It was diverted to Stansted Airport by the Typhoon jets, which took off from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire.
Several people reported hearing a “massively loud bang” in London, Cambridge and other areas in the South East as the fighter plane smashed through the sound barrier at nearly 750mph.
Caught the sonic boom on my ring camera!#sonicboom pic.twitter.com/Z8IoF5A7ki
— Javelin Sam (@javelinsam) January 12, 2021
Posting on Twitter, Alistair Broomhead said: “Just heard a loud boom in E12, windows rattled, sounded like an explosion, anyone else in London hear anything? Know what’s going on?”
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Javelin Sam, from Essex, tweeted a doorbell webcam video showing how loud the sonic boom was.
Another user, John Walsh, said: “Sonic boom just now over Cambridge! Blew my window off its casement stay and scared the bloomin’ life out of me and the several pigeons outside!”