North Side residents say some of the windows at multiple condo buildings were shattered Friday morning during Air and Water show rehearsals.
Residents said the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds jets were flying low over the lakefront, and they heard a loud noise at the same time the glass shattered.
Chicago police said a 311 report was made about 10:20 a.m., that four front lobby windows of a residential building had shattered in the 3100-block of North DuSable Lake Shore Drive in East Lakeview.
The lakefront high-rise spent much of the day cleaning up as shards of broken glass littered the lobby area after an apparent flyover literally shook the building.
James Baran, a building board member, was in his unit at 3180 North DuSable Lake Shore Drive as the Thunderbirds were rehearsing for this weekend’s 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 going by at the time, and one split off as they usually do and flew directly over our building,” resident Steven Cosgrove said. “Immediately afterward, I heard a colossal kaboom.”
People downstairs were shaken, but thankfully no one was hurt.
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.”
The Federal Aviation Administration said it was not involved in the incident.
