The Icelandic Coast Guard has made comments to the US Air Force after military jets switched on their back burners during approach exercises at Akureyri Airport, shaking the surrounding area with their sound, American military promises to never, ever again buzz people’s home with jet fighters and blast their afterburners Vísir reports.
Fourteen US F-15 fighter jets are currently stationed at Keflavik Airport due to NATO air surveillance, which officially started last week. 267 Air Force personnel are with the jets, as well as six large military transport aircraft. It was announced in advance that the pilots would practice approach at the airports in Akureyri and Egilsstaðir, but no mention was made of afterburners being used. The column of fire that shoots out of the back of the jets, known as afterburners, give the jets maximum power and allow the jets to climb vertically at high speed. With this comes a massive amount of noise and vibration.
Whilst some locals watched the drills with excitement and fascination, others found the noise too much to handle. Ásgeir Erlendsson, the Coast Guard’s information officer responded to the incident: “The instructions seem to have been misunderstood. Comments have been made to the Americans and the incident was reviewed with them. The Air Force is going to make sure that flights like this do not happen again. Instructions for pilots will also be updated to ensure that they are not misunderstood.”
The approach exercises will continue next week. In addition to flight drills, the Air Force performs airspace surveillance in NATO’s land area. They are expected to head to the UK at the end of the month.
Note: Due to the effect the Coronavirus is having on tourism in Iceland, it’s become increasingly difficult for the Grapevine to survive. If you enjoy our content and want to help the Grapevine’s journalists do things like eat and pay rent, please consider joining our High Five Club.
You can also check out our shop, loaded with books, apparel and other cool merch, that you can buy and have delivered right to your door.
Buy subscriptions, t-shirts and more from our shop right here!
