An RAF F-35 jet conducting a planned training exercise was behind the loud aircraft noise that startled people across Tyneside on the evening of 21 October, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed. ChronicleLive reported the story after residents living below the Newcastle Airport flight path flooded social media with questions about what they had heard.
The jet, operating from HMS Prince of Wales, landed at Newcastle Airport. Residents in areas including Longbenton and Killingworth were among those who noticed the noise, which some described as unlike anything they had experienced before.
What people heard
Reports on social media described the sound in similar terms. One person referred to a ‘loud rumble’ that ‘sounded like a plane but really loud’. Another said it was ‘so loud over Longbenton’. A third, who heard the noise at around 10.30pm, said: ‘We often hear noise from the airport but never heard something that loud before’.
The aircraft was audible across the area for roughly an hour and a half, between around 9pm and 10.30pm on 21 October.
The wider deployment: Operation Firecrest
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson confirmed that the noise came from ‘a routine planned training evolution from an F-35 jet operating from the HMS Prince of Wales Royal Navy aircraft carrier’. HMS Prince of Wales is part of the Carrier Strike Group currently deployed to the Arctic and North Atlantic as part of Operation Firecrest.
The Royal Navy has said the carrier is deployed alongside NATO allies as a ‘powerful shield for the nation’ to ‘ensure the critical energy, trade, and communication links we all rely on everyday in the region remain secure’. Over 1,200 British personnel are deployed as part of the group, working with Norway, Denmark and Germany.
HMS Dauntless, a Type-45 destroyer, accompanies the carrier on this phase of the operation. The group carries F-35 jets, helicopters and drones.
In February 2026, Navy Leaders reported that the Carrier Strike Group would exercise alongside NATO’s Standing Naval Maritime Group 1, with HMS Dragon acting as the command ship of that NATO maritime group throughout 2026.
Armed Forces Minister Louise Sandher-Jones MP described the deployment as ‘a clear demonstration of the UK’s commitment to the Alliance and contribution to the enduring security and stability of the North Atlantic’.
Commodore Richard Hewitt, commanding the operation, said: ‘I am delighted to return to the Arctic and North Atlantic as we build on the successes of the first phase of Op Firecrest. Led by the UK Flagship HMS Prince of Wales, the Strike Group will bring together a range of assets and capabilities, while taking every opportunity to train, operate and integrate with our NATO Allies and Partners.’
HMS Prince of Wales is also scheduled to host a gathering of military and political leaders in Oslo, with collective security in Northern Europe as the focus.