CHICAGO (WLS) — Residents of the North Side reported that windows in several condo buildings were broken Friday morning during the Air and Water show rehearsals.
They mentioned that the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds jets flew low over the lakefront, and a loud noise coincided with the glass breaking.
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According to Chicago police, a 311 report was filed around 10:20 a.m. about four lobby windows shattering in a residential building along the 3100-block of North DuSable Lake Shore Drive in East Lakeview.
The high-rise building had to deal with a significant cleanup effort, with shards of glass littering the lobby after a flyover appeared to shake the structure.
“You felt it. I actually felt it in my body,” resident James Baran said.
Baran, a board member of a condo building, was in his unit at 3180 North DuSable Lake Shore Drive during the Thunderbirds’ rehearsals for the upcoming Air and Water Show.
“Out of nowhere, just boom!” Baran said. “And the glass actually flexed right next to my face. I was about a foot from the window.”
The upper-floor windows are made of safety glass, but down in the lobby, three-plate glass windows had shattered.
“It was a group of white jets flying by, and one split off and flew right over our building,” resident Steven Cosgrove recalled. “Right after that, I heard a massive kaboom.”
People downstairs were shaken, but thankfully no one was hurt.
“I would say the pilot probably goosed the throttle a little more than he should have and went supersonic briefly,” Cosgrove said.
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About a mile north, there was a similar story at a building near Lake Shore and Irving Park.
An email sent to residents said windows were broken twice, once in the morning and again mid-afternoon.
It happened around the time the Thunderbirds took to the skies again along the lakefront.
The management at both high-rises have contacted police and the local alderman.
Damage at both buildings is estimated in the tens of thousands of dollars.
An Air Force spokesperson shared the following statement with ABC7:
“On Aug. 15, the United States Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, known as the Thunderbirds, conducted their standard practice demonstration in advance of the airshow. A thorough review of the practice determined the Thunderbird jets did not go supersonic at any point during the demonstration.”
A message left by ABC7 for the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events was not returned.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it was not involved in the incident.
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