Category: Military Aircraft

Tags: Low-flying, Brazilian, air, force, pilots, shatter, every, window, of, the, countrys, Supreme, Court

Two Brazilian air force pilots could be collared by the long arm of the law after making a low-altitude supersonic fly pass which shattered every window of Brazil's Supreme Court. If they know what's good for them, it might be a good idea to keep flying and put as much distance between them and the angry lawyers inside the blown-out building Swooping low over the structure housing the Supremo Tribunal Federal in Brasilia, the two French-made Mirage 2000 jets generated a massive shockwave - destroying the building's glass facade. The war planes had been taking part in the ceremony of exchange of the national flag at the Praça dos Três Poderes, at the Esplanada dos Ministerios. No one was injured in the incident, but the shockwave was so powerful nearly every window in the court building was destroyed and a few in the Congressional buildings beyond. Indeed, in videos of the incident, members of the crowds watching the ceremony can be heard whooping and hollering at the impressive aeronautic display. Impressive to everyone but the legal eagles inside the building. Brigadier Marcelo Kanitz Damasceno, chief of the Centre for Social Communication of the Força Aérea Brasileira (FAB), said military authorities had investigated the incident and would reimburse any cost. Made by French arms company Dassault, Mirage 2000s are known for their fantastic straight line speed, reaching just over twice the speed of sound. However, the single-engined warplanes are also notorious for their enormous turning circles - a manoeuvrability issue at high speed that could have played a part in yesterday's incident. After all, if the pilots had time to see what was coming up ahead of them, they would have had little chance to do anything about it. The FAB operate 12 of the planes, which have been out of production since 2007.

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