Sonic Boom Startles North Idaho Residents

A sonic boom startled Kootenai and Bonner County residents Monday afternoon, prompting calls to police.

“We’re getting calls from all the way south of Spokane up to Rathdrum,” said Post Falls police Lt. Rod Plank.

“The locations are all over the county,” said a Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department dispatcher.

The noise didn’t surprise Bonner County deputy Vicki Webb.

“It’s a sonic boom,” she said. “It happened last week, exactly the same place, exactly the same time.”

At Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, Master Sgt. Dan Conrad said the noise was apparently caused by four F16 fighters en route to Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. The planes are not supposed to fly at supersonic speeds near populated areas, but apparently were, he said.

, DataTimes