CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Some people on social media Wednesday said they were awakened last night by a loud noise in the middle of the night.
Folks in the Belmont and Cramerton areas said the loud rumble lasted for several minutes at a time.
So what was the noise?
OUR SOURCES:
- Charlotte Douglas International Airport
- American Airlines
- WCNC Meteorologist Brittany Van Voorhees
WHAT WE FOUND:
CLT Airport gave us this statement:
Charlotte Douglas International Airport is aware of reports of a loud, sustained rumbling sound in the early morning hours of February 7, primarily from the Belmont and Cramerton areas. CLT Airport has confirmed this was not a result of a standard commercial flight pattern. American Airlines was testing a Boeing 777 aircraft on an Aviation Department-approved runway location, in compliance with Airport policy. CLT Airport regrets this testing disrupted any of our neighbors.
American Airlines confirms they were conducting routine engine maintenance on the Boeing 777 at the airport.
Our Meteorologist Brittany Van Voorhees tells us Tuesday night was the perfect setup for loud noises traveling long distances because we had what's called a temperature inversion.
"When you have a temperature inversion, that sound or any shock bounces up and down from that cooler air on the ground, and the warm inversion and it essentially gets trapped, so the sound is bouncing back and forth, and it just seems so much louder," Van Voorhees said.
Van Voorhees said temperature inversions can occasionally happen, and when they do, they can make things like thunderstorms seem louder than they actually are.
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