4 days ago
Lakeview condo building's windows shattered by planes during Chicago Air and Water Show practice
Residents on Chicago's North Side have reported broken windows as practice for the Air and Water Show this weekend continues Friday, including all the windows in the lobby of a Lakeview condo building.
Chicago Air and Water Show rehearsals have been going on since Thursday. Many Chicagoans, especially those along the lakeshore where the performances will take place, have heard the loud booms of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and other planes practicing.
It's something most residents have come to expect every August as the Air and Water show approaches. But what residents have been hearing Friday morning is different than in years past.
The doorman of a condo building at 3180 N Lake Shore Drive said at 10:10 a.m. he was in the lobby of the building when he heard a sound so loud he thought a plane had hit the building, the entire building shook and then almost all the windows in the lobby shattered.
He said the planes were flying so low, they appeared to be flying just barely above the trees.
CBS News Chicago also spoke with the chairman of the building's Board of Directors who lives on the third floor and also said the planes were flying extremely low, so much so that when his windows shook and he looked outside, the plane appeared to be eye-level.
Both said in all their years working or living at the building, they had never seen planes flying that low over DuSable Lake Shore Drive before.
The windows of the building's lobby have now been boarded up until the glass can be replaced.
According to CBS News Chicago's Kris Habermehl, the only planes flying at 10:10 a.m. were the Thunderbirds.
Users on the Chicago subreddit also began posting in the late morning that the planes practicing for the Air and Water Show seemed to be flying too low and at supersonic speeds.
One user said three of their parents' condo windows broke in a building at Sheridan and Belmont, while another said "All the windows in my building shattered."
CBS News Chicago has reached out to the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Air Force and organizers of the Air and Water Show and are waiting to hear back.
