Three Military Ospreys (typically used in combat by the Marine Corps) were spotted flying over NYC this week. One of our readers spotted them loudly soaring past 83rd and Columbus Avenue on Thursday at about 2:15pm. Thanks to @mikemcgue for sending us this video.
Another reader, @zachaspar, took this video from 86th and Central Park West at about the same time:
The extremely low-flying planes were also seen on the Upper East Side and in Roosevelt Island this week. NY1 reporter Zack Fink saw them flying over the Hudson, and many New Yorkers reported feeling the vibrations in their apartments.
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Military Ospreys flying over the Hudson. pic.twitter.com/A8BVehXOl7
— Zack Fink (@ZackFinkNews) January 6, 2022
Video now posted https://t.co/xiwEaCwK2s
— Upper East Site (@uppereastsiteny) January 6, 2022
We’ve reached out to the US Military’s press department to see if they will tell us why the planes were deployed. Check back for an update, and if you heard or spotted them too, let us know in the comments!
Have to wonder about a connection to the date and hour/s.
We are on 85th and Broadway and they shook our apartment! It was so loud and “rumbly!”
My apartment has a western view and I see Ospreys every now and then, usually in pairs or 3’s, flying up and back down the Hudson. Don’t find this sighting that unusual.
Plenty of low flying military transport aircraft over the Hudson regularly – I’m sure it’s some times been these VTOL machines.
But over Manhattan Island is basically unheard of, except for pre–announced demonstrations, which rarely involve transport aircraft.
They were spotted outside Albany, New York over Delmar New, York earlier this week.
Okay, except earlier this week was not January 6th.
So how regularly do military transport aircraft fly over Delmar, NY?
Low flying military helicopters are quite common over the Hudson river, but they stay over the Hudson and go north or south; they don’t fly low over Manhattan.
Saw them at 83rd and West End. One was flying very low west on 83rd. One was on West End. The third was headed to the Hudson. They were so low and noisy that people walking on the street with me all stopped in their tracks and looked up, startled.
I live on the top floor of a six story building on 83rd off of Riverside Dr. The planes were so loud and close that it felt like they were about to land on my roof. It was scary and alarming that they were flying so low. Why? A military maneuver?
Show of force by a faction of ….? So as to prove that NYC can be ….?
I heard them on 83rd and Amsterdam and thought maybe something was about to crash. Then saw them and they were so menacing. Like they were there to deal with trouble. Definitely scary.
Yes, heard and saw them over Central Park. Along with those damn helicopters hovering over the West 70’s day and night, feels like l’m living on an Air Force base.
On 82nd and Broadway the sound was deafening, they were incredibly low, this was a startling flyover and the fact that it was Jan.6 made it even more startling. I hope you get an answer as to why this would ever be carried out, especially on the anniversary of the Capitol event.
Something doesn’t add up, I almost feel it may have been an act of intimidation.
Oh, it adds up. But the sum is very frightening.
Perhaps the Marine Corp will offer up an official explanation next week. It the Corp doesn’t that’s not good.
Exactly. January 6 at 2:15 is not a coincidence and they know it.
There have to be rules about notifying the public in advance of flyovers and also the flight path and altitude these giant aircrafts can be over a city.
Worse, if the Marine Corps doesn’t come up with an explanation by say Tuesday January 11th, that likely means these loud rotor craft were part of the JSOC airlift command, BUT you have to remember that the unapproved Sec. of Defense that DJT appointed in Nov. 2020 after DJT fired Esper was a retired SOC colonel, while JSOC reports directly to the president, not the Joint Chiefs.
So that Marine Corps had better be saying, yes, it was us, and the pilots are being docked pay and promotions because of this unauthorized flight.
When T**** used to fly in and out of Manhattan 3 or 4 these would follow Marine 1 in and out of the Wall Street helipad.
So?
The Wall Street heliport is out in the harbor at the end of a long + isolated pier, so not like the east side or west side heliports.
No one would be remarking on a flight of Ospreys going up or down the Hudson out over the river on the west side of Manhattan. Military transport aircraft, including Black Hawk helicopters, fly that route frequently. Pretty sure I’ve seen Ospreys a couple of times too.
The issue/s:
These are craft designed to delivere a squad of Marines, or commandos, to a battle zone or to a point worth taking — I can think of a couple of those on the west side of Manhattan — and they were flying low directly over the City on the anniversary, to the hour, of a coup attempt backed by a faction within the US military. They were not out over the harbor circling as DJT, or JB, as Maine One made a pre-announced landing at an isolated pier.
It was shocking and completely unprofessional of these pilots. They did not give their standard warning and flew way too low, creating widespread alarm. I don’t know why this has not been elevated by city officials, the mayor and the government. January 6th at 2:15pm exactly is a deliberate act. These military pilots showed disregard for millions of people in a seeming loyalty to the terrorists who stormed the Capitol one year ago. They should be punished for this brazen act. We deserve to know that any military granted access to our airspace will show responsibility or face consequences.
Saw and heard them on Columbus at 81st. A few car alarms went off because of the vibration! I lost a good friend of mine in an Osprey crash in April 2010 in Afghanistan, therefore I am not crazy about them low flying over my neighborhood.