Kenneth Fosdick was in his boat last Friday morning – going past State Pier – when a huge C-17 military transport jet flew over, its engines producing a roar.
“I look up and I’m like, ‘Oh, my God!” said Fosdick, an experienced pilot and the chair of Plymouth’s Airport Commission. “I honestly thought that there was something wrong.”
He was among many in the downtown Plymouth area who thought the plane was flying unusually low as it banked over the harbor and land.
It turns out that the aircraft was on a training mission out of Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, NY. Eric Durr, spokesperson for the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs, said it was flown by the 105th Airlift Wing of the New York Air National Guard, based at Stewart. The plane eventually landed at Otis Air National Guard Base in Bourne before returning to Stewart.
But while such training missions are not uncommon, some longtime downtown residents said they had never seen a military aircraft flying so low over land that it rattled windows as it twisted and turned. And because there was no advance notice, some thought they were witnessing a plane in trouble.
Remy Willocks was aboard the Mayflower II when the plane flew over. “I saw it start to make its way from the Manomet side of Plymouth Harbor coming in our general direction flying a lot lower than an aircraft, especially that big, flying before,” Willocks, operations coordinator for Plimoth Patuxet Museums, said.
Based on the height of the main mast of the Mayflower II, which he estimated at about 115 feet from the keel to the top of the flagstaff, he guessed that the plane was flying at about 200 to 500 feet above the masts.
“It was surprising, but also very exciting,” Willocks said of seeing the C-17, which is 174 feet long and has a wingspan of nearly 170 feet.
After the flyover, Fosdick said, he went to the airport in West Plymouth “because we were getting phone calls out there from everybody.”
Despite the dramatic appearance of the plane – which twisted and turned in dramatic fashion – the pilot did not break any rules, according to Durr.
“An aircrew from the 105th Airlift Wing’s 137th Airlift Squadron was performing military readiness training on Friday, August 16, in route to Otis Air National Guard Base in (Bourne), Massachusetts, from Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, New York,” Durr said in a statement. “The aircraft was performing a flight maneuver in the vicinity of Plymouth as part of that training flight.”
He said all maneuvers were in full compliance with Federal Aviation Administration regulations and were performed with approval and coordination from FAA air traffic control.
Durr said he did not know which FAA air traffic control center approved the flight over Plymouth. But The FAA’s Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center, which is in New Hampshire, typically handles all flights over Plymouth.
“Please contact the military,” a spokesperson for the FAA said in an email when asked about the flight.
“Aircraft as big as a C-17 can appear lower due to their size, but the jet was always in compliance with FAA altitude restrictions and associated regulations,” the New York National Guard statement said.
The FAA has a general rule that – unless taking off or landing – planes over congested areas must maintain a minimum altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest structure within 2,000 feet of the plane. Otherwise, they must fly at an altitude of at least 500 feet except over open water or sparsely populated areas, in which case they must fly at least 500 feet from any person, vehicle, vessel, or structure.
Durr declined to provide an explanation for the lack of public notice or the plane’s low flight path over the most populated part of town, referring to his previous statement about FAA approval.
How high the plane was flying is a matter of dispute among observers. Fosdick said websites such as ForeFlight and FlightAware recorded its transponder showing it was flying as low as 400 feet at some points.
Chris Hyldburg, who founded Alpha One Flight Services, a flight school at the airport, does not believe that to be accurate.
“I’ve seen all the videos, and my estimate was that it was at least 1,000 feet or higher,” he said.
In Fosdick’s judgment – from his perspective in the harbor – the plane was below 1,000 feet, and maybe as low as 500 feet.
He said the plane was “barely over the ocean” as it flew along the coast.
Fred Thys can be reached at fred@plymouthindependent.org.