Some early commuters and Loop-area residents were startled by the sight and sound of low-flying commercial aircraft along the lakeshore this morning, but a federal aviation official said it was nothing unusual.
At least three airplanes, flying low enough so that the whine of their engines could be easily heard, were spotted about 7 a.m., flying north.
Shifting winds required several commercial airliners to descend to 4,000 feet to facilitate their landings on particular runways at O’Hare International Airport, according to Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory.
“It’s nothing out of the ordinary,” she said.
Airliners regularly change their flight plans several times a day in accordance with changing wind conditions, she said.
