A sonic boom shook homes in southeast London and south Essex this morning after the Royal Air Force launched a Quick Reaction Alert Force to intercept a civilian plane which landed at Stansted.
RAF fighter jets caused the loud bang, which was heard at around 11.45am by residents in Chelmsford, Billericay and parts of East London.
An RAF spokesperson said: ‘We can confirm that RAF Quick Reaction Alert Typhoon fighter aircraft from RAF Coningsby were launched today to investigate a civilian aircraft which was not in contact with air traffic control, communications were re-established and the aircraft was safely escorted to Stansted.
‘The Typhoons are returning to base.’
The RAF Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 aircraft was spotted on flight radars at the time the explosion was heard, and escorted a passenger flight travelling from Nice into Stansted Airport after it lost contact with the ground.
Essex Police said they were called at around 11.40am this morning, and on the ground later found there was ‘nothing of concern’.
The RAF has apologised for any inconvenience caused to the public across southern England after some residents took to social media to express their alarm at the noise.
A ‘sonic boom’ is a loud, explosive noise that happens when the sound barrier is broken by an object travelling faster than the speed of sound.
The RAF’s Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) jets are a high-readiness unit which are deployed in response to ‘unidentified or unresponsive aircraft approaching or entering UK-controlled airspace’, according to the UK Defence Journal.
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