Oklahoma City sonic boom tests facts for kids

The Oklahoma City sonic boom tests, also called Operation Bongo II, were a special experiment. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) organized it in 1964. For six months, 1,253 sonic booms were made over Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

A sonic boom is a loud noise like thunder. It happens when an airplane flies faster than the speed of sound. The FAA wanted to see how these booms would affect a city. They wanted to know if buildings would be damaged and how people would react. This was important for future supersonic transport (SST) planes, which are very fast passenger jets.

Oklahoma City was chosen because people thought its residents might be okay with the tests. The city had strong ties to aviation, with places like the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center and Tinker Air Force Base nearby. In fact, the local Chamber of Commerce even celebrated when Oklahoma was picked!

But the tests ended early because many people complained about damage. Even though a report said most people could get used to the booms, the FAA didn't handle complaints well. This led to a group lawsuit against the U.S. government. The problems from these tests also helped stop the Boeing 2707 SST project in 1971. After this, the U.S. stopped trying to build SST planes.

What Happened During the Tests?

The sonic boom tests began on February 3, 1964. Every day, eight booms happened, starting at 7 a.m. and ending in the afternoon. The Air Force used fast planes like the F-104 fighter and B-58 bomber to create the booms. Sometimes, they also used F-101 and F-106 jets.

For the first three months, the noise was kept at a certain level. Then, it was made a bit louder for the next 14 weeks. This noise level was similar to what a future SST plane might make. Even though eight booms a day were loud, they were not supposed to be strong enough to break glass easily.

Early Reactions

At first, people in Oklahoma City seemed to handle the tests well. This might have been because the booms happened at the same times each day. A film crew hired by the FAA even saw construction workers using the booms as a signal for their lunch break!

Growing Problems

However, problems soon started. In the first 14 weeks, 147 windows broke in two of the city's tallest buildings: the First National Bank and Liberty National Bank.

By late spring, groups of citizens started to organize and protest. But city leaders didn't listen to them much at first. People tried to get a court order to stop the tests, but a judge said no. He felt the tests were important for the country.

Pressure also came from inside the government. The federal Bureau of the Budget criticized the FAA for how they designed the experiment. Many complaints also went to U.S. Senator Mike Monroney.

Then, newspapers on the East Coast began writing about the issue. This made it a national story. In June, an article in Saturday Review criticized the FAA for testing on a city without talking to local leaders first. By July, The Washington Post reported on the anger in Oklahoma. Finally, Oklahoma City council members started listening to their citizens and pushed Washington to act.

All this pressure led to the tests ending early. On July 30, the sonic booms stopped. An Oklahoma City Times newspaper headline famously read: "Silence is deafening!"

What Were the Results?

The FAA hired a group called the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) from the University of Chicago to study public opinion. Their report came out in 1965. The FAA focused on the good parts of the report. They said "the overwhelming majority felt they could learn to live with the numbers and kinds of booms experienced." The NORC report did say that 73% of people felt they could live with eight booms a day forever. Only 25% said they couldn't. About 3% of the people called, sued, or wrote protest letters.

Complaints and Lawsuits

However, Oklahoma City had 500,000 people. So, 3% meant 15,000 upset individuals! There were 9,594 complaints about damage to buildings. People filed 4,629 official claims for damage. These claims asked for a total of $12,845.32, mostly for broken glass and cracked plaster.

The FAA rejected 94% of all the claims it received. This made people even angrier, even after the tests ended. By 1965, Senator Monroney was very upset. He received hundreds of letters from people complaining about how the FAA was ignoring their claims. He started demanding regular updates from the agency. The FAA lost all support from Senator Monroney, who had been a big supporter of the SST program at first.

Impact on Supersonic Flight

The Oklahoma City tests also weakened the FAA's power over sonic boom issues. After the tests, President Lyndon B. Johnson's committee moved policy matters from the FAA to the National Academy of Sciences. Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall pointed out that the Oklahoma City tests, even though they were set up to favor the SST, still showed very negative results. By 1966, groups across the country were fighting against sonic booms, and this started to change government rules.

The FAA's poor handling of claims and paying out only $123,000 led to a class action lawsuit against the U.S. government. On March 8, 1969, the government lost its appeal in court. The bad publicity from these tests partly caused the Boeing 2707 project to be canceled in 1971. This also led to the United States completely stopping its work on SST plane designs.