XJT Crew Reports Rocket passing their Airplane...

BTAcola

BTAcola

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ExpressJet Crew reports Rocket passing their airplane at 11k when leaving KIAH

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=6840229



HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A strange object was spotted Friday night by pilots of a plane that just had just taken off from Bush Intercontinental Airport. And now, federal investigators are trying to pinpoint what the flying object was.

Eyewitnesses say the object, possibly a rocket, came close to hitting the plane. The Continental Express plane, operated by Express Jet, was flying from Houston to South Carolina last night when it happened.

The plane had just left Bush Airport around 8:20pm Friday when the captain reported seeing the object about 150 feet away. According to the FAA, the incident occurred about 11,000 feet into the air above Liberty County.

On Saturday, sheriff's officials interviewed two Hardin High School students who reported seeing the object come close to the plane.
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What's strange is that the FAA says they have no reports of any scheduled hobby rocket launches in the area.

"All we've been told it was bigger than a bottle rocket. It was enough of a light or big enough of an object the pilot had to call it in," said Corporal Hugh Bishop with the Liberty County sheriff's office. "But again, we haven't found anything to substantiate it yet."

The sheriff's department is scouring a large area from the Harris County line east to Liberty between Mont Belviu and Moss Hill for any sign of what might have come close to the plane. It's about a 24 by 12 mile area.

Officers were also on the radio today asking for witnesses. If you have any information about this, you're being asked to call the Liberty County Sheriff's Office at 936-336-4500.

A similar situation happened almost exactly a year ago with a Continental Airlines jet that left Bush Intercontinental. Passengers spotted a rocket-like object near the plane shortly after takeoff. The FAA investigated, and believed in was a high-power model rocket.
 
BTAcola said:
The sheriff's department is scouring a large area
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Not meant to be a knock on any LE agency or anything, but would they really scour the area for something such as this? I mean, when I think of scour I imagine lots of dogs and humans walking a line through fields etc looking for any evidence.
Seems as if they have their hands full enough as it is these days.
How much attention does/would local LE give a report like this?

Again, please don't take this as a knock against LE, just an honest curiosity.
 
juan valdez said:
Not meant to be a knock on any LE agency or anything, but would they really scour the area for something such as this? I mean, when I think of scour I imagine lots of dogs and humans walking a line through fields etc looking for any evidence.
Seems as if they have their hands full enough as it is these days.
How much attention does/would local LE give a report like this?

Again, please don't take this as a knock against LE, just an honest curiosity.
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I think it's more how the press worded it, than it is what the LE are actually doing. There's just not a ton of manpower to dedicate to very general info like this. IF there was something far more specific, then I could see something like this being narrowed to a very small area where there's confidence that there's something there.
 
Eyewitnesses say the object, possibly a rocket, came close to hitting the plane. The Continental Express plane, operated by Express Jet, was flying from Houston to South Carolina last night when it happened.
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Another regional flight. Good for the regionals!
 
I s'pose something like a Stinger would have left more of an impression (speed, light?) than the article conveyed, and probably wouldn't have been pointed at only one of you measly little RJs. ;)
 
MikeD said:
I think it's more how the press worded it, than it is what the LE are actually doing. There's just not a ton of manpower to dedicate to very general info like this. IF there was something far more specific, then I could see something like this being narrowed to a very small area where there's confidence that there's something there.
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That's what I was kind of thinking. Seems highly unlikely they would be able to track something like this down.

Swen said:
At least they're getting it narrowed down...
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:laff:
 
BTAcola said:
ExpressJet Crew reports Rocket passing their airplane at 11k when leaving KIAH

"All we've been told it was bigger than a bottle rocket.
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They could probably rule out kids throwing M-80 firecrackers too! If any of you find a supply of bottle rockets that can actually REACH 11,000 ft, please let me know...I want to see those! :rawk:
 
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