It's A Bird! It's A Plane! No, It Was A Helicopter, FAA Says

TEWKSBURY, MA -- The Federal Aviation Administration says the low-flying aircraft that many Tewksbury residents reported seeing over town Tuesday was a helicopter -- not a passenger jet. Patch contacted the FAA Wednesday after seeing dozens of social media posts where people reported hearing and seeing a low-flying passenger plane pass over town around 11:30 am at an altitude of about 200 feet above the ground.

"Based on the time of day, we believe that it was a Robinson R22 helicopter that was conducting pipeline patrol operations in the area," Jim Peters, a spokesman for the FAA in Burlington, said in an email.

Last week, Tewksbury Police warned residents that a helicopter would be inspecting utility lines in the area, but those inspections were to have been concluded by Sunday. And even after the FAA response, Tewksbury residents were adamant that what they saw was a jet, not a plane.

"There was a jet and 2 minutes later a Police helicopter flew over heading in the same direction," one of the witnesses posted in a Facebook group for Tewksbury residents after being told about the FAA's response.

Writing on the same forum, Patty Greene described the plane as "scary low" and loud. She said the plane -- or helicopter, if you're the FAA -- was low enough that she could tell whether the window shade was up or down in each window. "Been here 25 yrs and NEVER saw one so low," Greene wrote. Another person said the plane was flying northwest over Tewksbury, while another believes she saw black smoke coming from the back of the wings, and then saw a state police helicopter a short time later.

A spokesman for the Massachusetts State Police, which operates an air wing and police helicopters, was not immediately available for comment Wednesday morning. Residents were so incredulous about the helicopter explanation that Patch reached out to Peters a second time on Wednesday afternoon.

"Based on the tjme and location, the helicopter is the one we identified," Peters said in an email.

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File photo by Renee Schiavone/Patch.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).