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F-18 Flies Too Close For Comfort

July 2009 14,823 views 13 Comments

Photo by Steve Perez/The Detroit News

A scheduled fly-over by an F-18 Navy Hornet at the annual boat race came too close for comfort for residents of the Jeffersonian apartment building.

“It felt like the sky was falling,” said tenant Carol Stover, who saw the jet. “I looked up and saw the jet and I was praying we weren’t under attack.”

The picture, captured by Detroit News photographer Steve Perez, shows the jet zooming past the high-rise Detroit apartments at very close proximity.

According to the military, the jet was actually about 200 to 300 feet away from the shoreline. Authorities said no one on the ground or in a building was ever at any risk.

Still, the perception of flying so close to a residential area grabbed national attention. Perez later commented “It’s one of those things that’s just timing and luck.”

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13 Comments »

  • MrD-Man said:

    Holy eyebrow raiser, batman.

    July 14 2009 at 1:51 pm
  • Chris said:

    That, my friends, is the sound of freedom and the image of liberty passing by you… More enjoying, less complaining!

    July 14 2009 at 4:05 pm
  • Anonymous said:

    “I looked up and saw the jet and I was praying we weren’t under attack.”

    This is a great example of how stupid people have become in America. First of all, no one is going to waste time attacking DETROIT. Secondly, how long are some idiots going to go through life thinking that everytime they see a tree branch fall unexpectedly that it’s terrorists coming to get us? Does no one realize that the longer you live in some constant state of panic like this that you’re still letting the terrorists “win”?

    Eight years after Sept. 11th and people are going to cry “terrorists!” at this kind of stuff instead of first assuming that this American military jet was there because of the long-scheduled-in-advance boat show. Simply amazing.

    July 14 2009 at 4:39 pm
  • more peace less war said:

    If a fighter jet is “the sound of freedom and the image of liberty” we are in big trouble…

    July 14 2009 at 6:03 pm
  • chi41 said:

    “if a fighter jet is ‘the sound of freedom and the image of liberty’ we are in big trouble’

    spoken like someone who has never heard shots fired in anger…

    July 14 2009 at 10:22 pm
  • Freedom and Liberty said:

    This is what liberty looks like. Without this kind of equipment and skilled patriots to operate it our liberty would be taken away in a heart beat. Go live in South Korea for a while if your think I’m wrong.

    Also, to the “Anonymous” exaggerator. If you had a F-18 fly over your head unexpectedly you would immediately fear for your life as well.

    July 14 2009 at 11:22 pm
  • Brad said:

    telephoto lens people. Makes distant things look close. Note the panic attack by the resident.

    July 14 2009 at 11:47 pm
  • hahamplw said:

    More peace, what do you think is the sound of freedom? Personally, I look at the shot heard around the world. Today’s men and women in the military are a direct lineage from yesterdays militia men. The sound of the military that protects our rights as United States citizens should not be something that causes you to be uneasy.

    July 15 2009 at 12:17 am
  • David G said:

    i was at dyc last weekend, and that jet was awesome.

    was anyone else there to see the cloud orb that surrounded the jet as it neared the sound barrier? it was so cool. i love freedom.

    it was the safest i’ve ever felt in detroit!

    July 15 2009 at 9:24 am
  • Anonymous said:

    “Also, to the “Anonymous” exaggerator. If you had a F-18 fly over your head unexpectedly you would immediately fear for your life as well.”

    ‘Anonymous’ here again. True, it may make me scared simply because it’s a couple of tons of jet fuel and metal that could turn me into a red paste in a heartbeat, but I’m not going to think it’s al Queda like an idiot. My point was that if there’s a boat or air show going on and a plane buzzes by your building (or even if there was nothing going on but an American F-18 flew by) I would NOT think that it was terrorists. I’m not that stupid, and if you do think that then you are in fact stupid. But hey, you guys keep living in your lovely panic-stricken world where Muhammad The Terrorist is around every corner.

    July 15 2009 at 1:29 pm
  • Mike S said:

    Ironic that the people who complain the loudest about the price of freedom are usually the ones who have paid the least.

    July 16 2009 at 2:33 pm
  • Peter S said:

    I think our country has gone mad and is divided. Half who still believe in freedom, another half of “Obama Hippies” hoping that lighting a candle and singing Kum By ya….that the Government will bail them out and make everything okay.

    The problem is that those who have done without, sacrificed..and gone through wars know (whom are dying off) ….and what we are left with is a bunch of Gen X’s who seem to think they have some “entitlement” to be bailed out and freedom, unfortunatly because they have never seen real war..or sacrificed.

    And yes, I am a Gen X’er……but I recognize the cost of those before me who have “paid” for our freedom.

    There is no “free ride Kids”.

    July 18 2009 at 4:59 pm
  • Bill F said:

    I wish that was me on that balcony!!

    July 25 2009 at 3:34 pm

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