Georgia residents say Air Force flyover damaged their homes

By

The Associated Press

An F-15 prepares to take off from Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, in May 2020 to conduct a flyover honoring middle Georgia healthcare workers, first responders and essential workers .

BONAIRE, Ga. — Some Georgia homeowners say an Air Force flyover of a youth baseball tournament physically damaged their homes.

WMAZ-TV reports that an F-15 Eagle from Robins Air Force Base flew over a Little League baseball tournament in Warner Robins on Wednesday.

Alisha Brown, who lives in nearby Bonaire, said the plane made an unusually loud and sharp noise, which her husband described as “like a bomb.”

Brown, who said she’s from a military family, said she’s hiring an inspector to look for damage to her roof after a vinyl ceiling on her porch bulged. Several other Bonaire homeowners sent pictures showing insulation hanging out of a ceiling’s edge, cracks in brick, and fallen exterior vinyl strips.

Robins Air Force Base spokesperson Roland Leach said the flight was conducted at an approved altitude above 1,000 feet and did not break the speed of sound, which would produce a sonic boom. Some residents speculated the noise they heard was a sonic boom.

Other residents also said the flyover seemed louder and lower than usual and shook their homes.

Air Force officials said people who believed their homes were damaged could file complaints and that the Air Force would investigate them for possible reimbursement.