APPLETON, Wisconsin
Two jets flew over Northeast Wisconsin on Tuesday.
The jets were seen flying around 1 p.m. near Appleton, and residents were left wondering why they were flying overhead again.
The Public Information Officer at the 115th Fighter Wing in Madison said that it was merely a training exercise, and they may be doing additional exercises Tuesday afternoon.
Here is the statement the 115th Fighter Wing released:
The jets were in the Fox Valley skies today, completing what is called a fertile keynote. A fertile keynote is a term we use to describe our practice intercept missions. The Aerospace Control Alert jets need to be ready to go 24/7. They get their practice all over the state of Wisconsin by teaming up with the Civil Air Patrol's Cessna aircraft. They locate the Cessna and practice scenarios they may face in a real-world situation. It's our way of staying up-to-date on training for our Homeland Defense mission - ready to protect our nation.
On Sunday, low flying military jets were also seen. Four F-16 fighters flew a missing man formation around 3:00 p.m. Sunday. While the flyby came without warning, the jets were actually flying in honor of a deserving veteran aviator.
Story, photo and video: http://www.wearegreenbay.com
Routine training heard across Fox Valley skies
A noisy noon hour in the Fox Valley skies left plenty of people concerned Tuesday.
People called police, 9-1-1, and even the Fox 11 newsroom trying to find out why low-flying jets were in the area.
If you were near Appleton's east side around noon, you likely looked up to see what was going on.
"I heard a bunch of noise up in the sky and it seemed like it was going back and forth and I thought something was different, something was going on, I didn't know what," said Wanda Wyland of Appleton.
Local police also didn't know what was going on. Multiple agencies, including Appleton and Fox Valley Metro Police departments, posted on social media that they were aware of the jets flying overheard, and would try to find out why.
"I knew right away it was jets, because I was used to hearing that growing up with the blue angels practicing over our house, so I figured it was jets," said Marissa Gressler of Appleton.
It turns out Gressler was right. The 115th Fighter Wing was practicing finding a Civil Air Patrol Cessna, trying to simulate a possible real life intercept mission.
"The fact that it was over Appleton today, it could be over there in the future, however we practice in various locations throughout the state," said Major Paul Rickert of the Wisconsin National Guard.
The practices happen every few weeks. However, the National Guard only has to let the FAA know when the practices will be.
After a similar situation Sunday, Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson wrote a letter to the 115th Fighter Wing. He wrote, in part, "without the benefit of advance warning, many residents are unnecessarily frightened and concerned by the sight and sound of low-flying F-16's overhead."
"It was a pretty easy ask," said Nelson. "We got a quick response back from the 115th that when they do another flyover that they will make an effort to either get a hold of us or reach out to local media to alert people as to what's going on."
While Tuesday's flyover was for training, Sunday's flyover was for a military funeral.
Those flyovers are rare and must be coordinated by the family of the deceased with the Pentagon, according to National Guard officials.
"We do our best to notify the public when there is going to be significant increased activity in their airspace," said Rickert.
The National Guard says it tries to send out a notification if training is scheduled to happen at night or if there will be multiple planes flying over an extended period.
Source: http://fox11online.com
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