§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the dates, locations and results of investigations of reports of sonic booms over the United Kingdom since 1992.
§ Mr. HanleyDuring the period 1 January 1992 to 31 January 1994, a total of 27 investigations of alleged 623W sonic booms were conducted. Of these, only one incident was established as a sonic boom, 15 were identified as sonic or possible sonic events, in 10 cases the report was either withdrawn by the complainant or no sonic event
Date Location Results of investigation 1992 5 March Off the coast of Blackpool Sonic boom BAe Tornado 11 March Kings Lynn Sonic event -111 aircraft suspected 18 June Great Yarmouth Sonic event F4 aircraft suspected 24 November Cambridge area Sonic event F15 aircraft 19-20 November Lincoln area Sonic events F15 aircraft 1993 27 January North Humberside Sonic event F15 aircraft suspected 2 February Thurso Sonic event Tornado aircraft suspected 5 February Scarborough Sonic event Tornado aircraft suspected 26 February Bridgewater Sonic event Sea Harrier aircraft 8 March Peterborough Sonic event F15 aircraft suspected 14 April Peterborough Sonic event F15 aircraft suspected 16 July Southwold Sonic event F15 aircraft 21 July Lowestoft Sonic event F16 aircraft 11 August St. Andrews Sonic event F15 aircraft 22 October Morpeth Possible sonic event Tornado aircraft suspected 7 December Norfolk Still under investigation 1994 25 January Peterborough Sonic event F15 aircraft suspected Notes:
- 1. A sonic boom is caused by an aircraft travelling at supersonic speed.
- 2. A sonic event is caused when a small part of the airframe (such as the wing tips) exceeds the speed of sound. This usually occurs when an aircraft is conducting high energy manoeuvres.