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Many south suburban residents were surprised Friday to see a four-engine military aircraft, painted in camouflage colors, skimming low over their homes.
Police switchboards in Harvey and Riverdale were flooded with calls just after 1 p.m. by people who were worried that a crash had been narrowly averted.
But the aircraft, a military C-130 Hercules, was making a planned fly-by for a 4th of July picnic sponsored by U.S. Rep. Gus Savage (D., Chicago).
The aircraft, with a 132-foot wingspan, can fly as slow as 110 miles an hour.
The picnic, held in the Cook County forest preserve at 14500 S. Halsted St., attracted several hundred spectators.
